Low self-esteem can lead to major challenges and great sadness for individuals in their daily functioning and well-being. Our esteem is developed by our most intimate and personal experiences in life which create deep seated beliefs and messages about ourselves based on our perceptions and interactions with others.
These experiences usually develop in childhood when we are vulnerable and dependent on our family, wider community and peers for survival and guidance. Poor nurturing, boundaries and prejudices can deeply affect our self-esteem and cause feelings of not being loveable or worthy. Negative adult experiences and relationships, such as sexual trauma or workplace bullying, can also deeply effect self-esteem.
Our self-esteem is based on a child’s view of the world with biased beliefs. This view is maintained and strengthened by biased thinking, which means we accept anything consistent with these beliefs and discount anything that is not. Challenging these beliefs can cause anxiety as we start to examine our perceptions, what they mean, why we accepted them, and continue to accept them, and how they affect one’s future relationships and well-being.
For more information on self-esteem, we recommend the following link: