Suffering from low self-esteem is an unfortunately common mental health issue. It can make getting through the day much harder than it has to be. Here you will find a few practical tips on managing your low self-esteem with a view to improving your overall mental health.
Figure Out What Impacts Your Self-Esteem
Not everyone is negatively impacted by the same external stimuli. What insults or upsets one person might not upset you, and vice versa. By knowing what precisely causes you to feel a drop in self-esteem, you can start to figure out a solution to the problem. For example, if you always feel insecure talking to your successful friend, it might be because you feel inadequate in your own job. Knowing yourself is a powerful starting point for improvement.
Adjust Your Mindset
Often, the reason that low self-esteem persists beyond rational thought is due to the unhelpful and irrational thinking errors behind it. Here is a list of three common thinking errors that can lead to anxiety and low self-esteem:
- Mind reading: Believing that you know what someone else is thinking about you;
- Magnification: Focusing on small details and making them more significant than necessary, such as being overly critical of your reflection;
- Selective abstraction: Picking one detail out of many to draw your conclusions, for example, ignoring compliments and only remembering insults.
It can take a lot of time and effort to undo these thinking errors, especially if they have been embedded in your mind for some time. You might find it helpful to do this with a therapist who can talk you through the process and help you if you need it.
Try Meditation
Meditation and mindfulness exercises are often suggested by mental health professionals for people who have low self-esteem. These practices can help you to relax and let your thoughts settle. Over time you will find that you become less judgemental of yourself and others around you, learning to accept life as you find it before judging it.
Confront Your Insecurities
Depending on what is causing your low self-esteem, you may be able to confront it directly. For example, if you are generally a confident person but developing wrinkles on your face has caused you some distress, there are ways to deal with this almost instantly. Services like botox in Tulsa, OK can quickly and effectively help you address the insecurity. This is ideal for people who are trying to work on their confidence overall but would like the extra help from another source. Of course, it is also important to work on what’s going on inside as well as outside.
Care for Your Body
The mind and the body are intrinsically connected. If you are finding it too much of a challenge to address your mental health directly, focusing on your physical health instead will still have a positive effect. Exercise is a great way to take your mind off unwelcome thoughts and can help to rebalance the chemicals in your brain.
Hopefully, you have found some of this advice useful and you are ready to build up your self-esteem.