You have probably read it somewhere or watched a TikTok video about how depression causes lower self-esteem. Today, I will explain why having high self-esteem is a MUST as it offers many benefits you should not ignore.
Positivity toward oneself is a sign of high self-esteem. This does not imply that you are flawless or enjoy everything about yourself. On the other hand, it’s normal to be self-critical and to have some aspects of yourself that you are less proud of than others, even for individuals with high self-esteem. Having a high sense of self-worth might change depending on the situation.
High self-esteem is a mentality that enables you to enjoy your accomplishments, confront your shortcomings, and feel positive about your life and yourself. Because you fundamentally cherish, believe in, and respect yourself, it enables you to put daily ups and downs into perspective.
Additionally, having a high sense of self-worth lets you see that nothing is about you, which allows you to avoid taking things personally and reacting inappropriately. You can see beyond yourself and have confidence in your place in the world when you have a high sense of self-respect.
It’s interesting to note that having high self-esteem is not necessarily correlated with the situations or characteristics that you might logically expect should do so.
The American Psychological Association claims high self-esteem is essential for good mental health and well-being. Because it enables you to build coping mechanisms, deal with hardship, and put the bad things in perspective, having high self-esteem is important.
The aspects of yourself that you aren’t happy with are less likely to receive undue attention, blame, self-doubt, hopelessness, or weight if you have a higher self-concept. Additionally, you are more capable of handling pressure from friends, family, work, and school.
It also rings a bell in your mind about why we should not have low self-esteem:
Researchers frequently refer to self-esteem as existing on a continuum, just as many aspects of mental health.
Like anything in life, your self-image will likely develop and alter as you get older, go through life, and react to significant life events.
People also tend to have fixed self-esteem, whether high, low or middle. Lower self-image affects all aspects of life, including social interactions, attentiveness, emotional control, decision-making, and life happiness.
When you have high self-esteem, it’s easier to bounce back from bad situations and any unfavorable opinions or feelings that people may have toward you. On the other hand, a lower self-concept makes you more inclined to take rejection or criticism personally and believe that other people’s issues are related to you.
Due to this combination, people with low self-esteem may become more sensitive to everyday events and interpersonal interactions. Low self-esteem makes it harder for people to control their emotions, handle difficulties successfully, and maintain a positive outlook on life.
Low self-esteem frequently causes tiny problems to grow into larger ones that can seem impossible, further lowering one’s opinion.
Low self-esteem and low self-confidence are correlated in research. High self-confidence also promotes self-reliance, self-advocacy, and faith in one’s talents, all of which support high self-esteem and lay the groundwork for good mental health and high quality of life.
There is a particularly high correlation between mental health issues and low self-esteem. Contrary to popular belief, research firmly demonstrates that low self-esteem causes depression rather than the other way around. Thus, depression does not result in a low opinion of oneself. Instead, having a negative self-image increases your risk of developing depression.
Additionally, studies show that having a higher sense of self offers protection against mental health issues, perhaps due to the better coping mechanisms, increased optimism, and resilience that come with this more welcoming and affirming self-talk. Low self-esteem makes you feel lousy about yourself, making it more difficult to live a full life, accomplish your goals, and have healthy interpersonal and romantic relationships.
The secret to a happy life is having a high sense of self-awareness. Some people naturally adopt this mindset, whereas others struggle more. Fortunately, you can work on enhancing your vision, support, compassion, and love of yourself no matter where you fall on the self-esteem scale.
In the end, your relationship with yourself might be the most important one because it gives you the resilience, confidence, kindness, drive, and love that guide the rest of your life and enables you to be the best version of yourself.
