A healthy Self-esteem is an important part of mental health. In today's world, when society is moving more and more towards individualization, it is more important than ever.
What is the self-esteem?
The term self-esteem stands for our own inner assessment of our personality, our abilities, talents, strengths and weaknesses. For the most part, it is fed by experiences that we have in the course of our lives. Anyone who is taught to be a valuable person in their childhood develops a basic trust in other people that will facilitate their later life.
Self-esteem is not a static state. With every new experience, whether positive or negative, the self-image changes. It essentially consists of three components:
Self-observation: Those who have had positive experiences in certain situations trust their abilities and deal with situations more calmly than someone for whom these situations are more fearful. Knowing about one's own physical attractiveness can also strengthen or weaken self-confidence.
Social comparisons: In addition to introspection, we constantly compare ourselves with other people. Do others behave similarly in certain situations? Who is better and why This in turn has an impact on self-esteem.
Feedback: When we are recognized, admired and praised, self-esteem is strengthened. Criticism from others and problems with them can undermine self-confidence.
Function & task
A positive self-esteem is a source of strength for our everyday life. We want to know: who am I? What can I? How valuable am i? People who have a positive answer to these questions have a strengthening foundation.
A feeling for one's own strengths is an important key to life satisfaction, health and a person's success. A bad or fluctuating self-esteem, on the other hand, can paralyze and weaken a person up to depression.
A reliable psychological foundation helps us to better survive everyday demands, from illness, separation / divorce, unemployment to coping with (natural) disasters.
In order to remain able to act, you need a certain inner confidence. Especially in times of increasing individualization, a stable inner self is important in order to become aware of one's own worth. A positive self-esteem can be described as self-esteem, self-confidence, self-confidence, self-assertion, etc.
No matter which terms are chosen, the effect remains the same. People with good self-esteem have good faith in their own abilities and therefore find it easier to take risks than insecure people.
They too can fail, but not only look for the reason for failure in themselves, but also in external circumstances over which we have only limited influence. Because they have the feeling that they can express wishes and needs, they feel more satisfied overall than self-insecure people.
People who lack self-confidence are not sure of their abilities and strengths. Therefore, they tend to shy away from risk and tend to avoid difficult tasks, since they cannot cope with defeat so well and mostly attribute them to their own inadequacies.
They have little confidence in themselves and easily give up.Because they need recognition from outside all the more because of their low self-esteem, they do not show what they are made of and are therefore often underestimated by their fellow men. You don't want to stand out uncomfortably either.
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To some extent, as social beings, we are all dependent on the approval of other people. Those who make their intrinsic worth generally dependent on external recognition are under immense pressure to always have to please others and are prepared to make almost any concession in order to receive this recognition. If it does not take place or if criticism is also expressed, these people react very easily overly sensitive and see it as a rejection of their person.
This makes them feel inferior, and it can even lead to a pronounced inferiority complex. As a result, an inner compulsion can be felt to compensate for this inferiority and to convince others even more of your own achievements.
In men, this feeling often leads to an unhealthy job addiction because they are more status-dependent than women. When your self-esteem is cracked, it is difficult to appear confident outwardly. There is always the fear of not being able to meet the demands of others or of embarrassing yourself.
For some people, these fears go so far that they develop a downright social phobia and avoid other people. By withdrawing, however, they aggravate their problem because the external recognition that is so important to them is completely missing. A vicious circle develops, which often leads to severe depression and even suicidal intentions.
In these cases the advice of a doctor should be urgently sought. In this safe framework, the patient can ideally even learn to open up to his imperfections, which ultimately everyone has.
However, today's optimization society is increasingly also cutting the self-esteem of people with a generally positive self-esteem. Due to the permanent demand to always have to give your best everywhere, otherwise to be considered a failure, even people with positive self-confidence are often systematically pushed into burnout.
