Here are some pieces of information that may get you thinking:

• The UN News Centre reports that more fatalities are caused by self-inflicted harm every year than by any type of violence, such as homicide or war.

• In any given year, around 50 million Americans suffer from a diagnosable psychological, emotional, or behavioral condition, including depression and anxiety.

• In a study conducted among female students, 80 percent of the respondents claimed to have a negative body image due to negative remarks made by family and friends.

There is one common denominator among these thought-provoking statistics—low self-esteem. If this serves as a reminder of how damaging it can be when you have a negative view of yourself, then read on to know the route to higher self-esteem.

Positive versus Negative Self-Esteem

Self-esteem is defined as the value you give yourself based on how valuable you believe you are to others. It is the degree of your self-respect, and exists on a continuum, ranging from high to low. Self-esteem affects nearly every part of your well-being, including your relationships, self-care, work, etc.

Positive self-esteem provides the strength and flexibility to enable you to take charge of your life and learn from your mistakes without fear of rejection, shame, or self-criticism. Healthy self-esteem helps you to be realistic about your goals and confront challenges without being reckless.

On the other hand, negative or low self-esteem deters you from realizing your full potential due to feelings of fear, unworthiness, incapability, and incompetence. This bad self-image makes you see yourself as less valuable than others. This poor feeling leaves you with little natural ability to protect yourself and may actually contribute to a lifetime of low self-esteem.

Factors That May Challenge Self-Esteem

Self-esteem is an internal belief that develops while growing up. The foundations are laid from early childhood, but self-esteem changes with time and events. Good experiences may result in raised self-esteem, while negative ones can leave it lowered.

In childhood, early nurturing equips you with the resilience to shrug off the blows life deals you. However, your self-esteem can be damaged if you receive criticism and/or abuse from people who are supposed to provide care, understanding, and security. It can’t prosper if your sense of confidence and purpose has not been appropriately reinforced to encourage accomplishment.

Even well-developed adult self-esteem can be tried by unexpected life changes, such as divorce, financial difficulties, substance abuse, physical illness, or other circumstances that lead you to doubt your worth or value. Therapy can be a beneficial option to help put these challenges in perspective and boost your inherent resilience to overcome them.

Alarming Features of Low Self-Esteem

In this materialistic world, people have a penchant for comparing themselves with others. This practice often highlights insecurities and fuels negative feelings about yourself. As a result, you lose sight of your own value as an individual and feel inadequate.

If you regard yourself critically, and perpetually feel a sense of failure or lack of accomplishment, you may have low self-esteem. Your constant self-criticism may be perpetuated by the habit of comparing yourself to others. Although the perceived faults may not be real, the thought patterns may have become ingrained in your mind so that you believe they are true.

Low self-esteem is accompanied by a host of negative conditions and experiences, such as depression, perfectionism, codependency, powerlessness, and unworthiness.

The Journey to Feeling Good about Yourself

Improving or regaining your self-esteem takes more than time and effort. It takes honesty to admit there are things you don’t like about yourself, and courage to reverse the feeling so you can feel better about yourself. Some people have the innate skills to recover from the setback of negative self-esteem, but others need external help to find the strength to achieve the change they want.

If you belong to the latter group, a counselor independently contracted with Carolina Counseling Services — Sanford, NC, can help you explore your individuality and realize your full potential with confidence. It’s time to feel good and realistic about who you really are by developing and trusting your abilities and praising yourself for what you can do and not for what others say about you. The right-fit counselor at Carolina Counseling Services — Sanford, NC, can help take your self-esteem to the next level. Set up your first appointment now!