Causes of low self-esteem
In the part 1 of this series we looked at the meaning of low self-esteem . It’s been said often times that the first way solve to solving a problem is to identify the cause and then proffering solution wouldn’t be difficult. In this part II on low self-esteem we’ll be looking at the several elements, occurrences, events, circumstances and the likes that cause low self-esteem in an individual or to a society.
Low self-esteem is caused or influenced by several factors and experiences that an individual has been through over time in the course of growth from childhood to the current stage of life. Negative or positive experiences have a way of shaping the sense of self-worth in an individual.
1. Internet & Social Media
Yes social media! What some persons see on the social media can make them develop negative impressions and low self-worth. The display (travel experiences, achievements, cars, phones, houses, clothing, account balance, figures, body shape, challenge, food, cookies etc) on social media if not viewed from the angle of social life and interactions can lead to competition, depression, negative feelings as people often see their peers achieving greater things than they do which sometimes weren’t meant to intimidate anyone. The ideal home, car, phone, body fit, job, career, wedding gown or suits in the mind of some persons are often from social media which isn’t bad but can develop low self-esteem when such things are not been achieved or attained.
2. Unsupportive Parents, Abuse and Punishments
Some persons with low self-esteem are as a result of mental abuse during their early stage of life. Abuse of any kind creates negative impression in people making them feel they don’t deserve to be useful or rewarded for their efforts. The aftermath of abuse and punishments are quite difficult to heal or treat. Abuse, punishments can be from family, friends, relatives, neighbors, strangers and foster or step parents. In most cases during the early stage of growth the feelings about oneself are majorly influenced by the treatments or feelings from others including parents or guardians. Some people develop low self-esteem as a result of inadequate parental support in terms of care, guidance, mentorship or attention probably due to mental health, death, distance, financial and business engagements etc.
3. Negligence, Excessive Criticism and Continuous Negative References
Lack of attention, affection, praise, gift, kindness, appreciation etc.., can lead to the development of a negative sense of self-worth. When individuals grow up in an environment where there is no care they feel abandoned, neglected, insecure, and insignificant. In the course of growth these individuals find it difficult to trust people which affect the way they relate with others. When an individual is often criticized and reminded of his or her mistakes it create a feeling of worthlessness, which discourages them from doing anything that will be needing feedback on performance.
4. Comparison with Others & Peer Pressure
Being compared to others (especially siblings) and consistently being told that they are not as good as them, or asked to be ‘more like them’ can cause one to lose confidence in his abilities. Internal struggles within a person from peer pressure to participate in an activity which they don’t want in order to be classified as been classic or relevant often leads to low self-esteem.
5. Expectations & Achievements
In a situation where an individual doesn’t meet up with the expectations of their parents or guardians who tend to influence their child to perform in a certain way (an image or impression or career) can lead to low self-esteem. At most reoccurrences the individual keep reaffirming to others, the confession of not been able to perform well even without trying a task or assignment. Failure after hard work to achieve certain goals can lead to a sense of low self-worth.
6. Negative Experiences
Negative experiences such as divorce, loss of a loved one, community violence, sexual abuse, teen pregnancy, and changing location too frequently can lead to low self-esteem. Thoughts and memories that capture negative and inaccurate patterns that occur in the life of an individual can result to a low self-value.
7. Ill-health and Trauma
When the quality of life is compromised by trauma or ill-health it can lead to low self-esteem. For instance, the feelings of not been able to perform certain activities by an individual who lost a part of the body in an accident or attack can lead to low self-esteem.
8. Physical Appearance or Body Image
Please note it’s quite important to maintain healthy practices and watch body weight or image but not at all cost to fit into the perspective of different views on social media. In summary, from several survey reports some if not most individuals are unhappy with their bodies’ which leads them to practice unhealthy behaviors in order to lose weight or fit into a desired shape such as skipping meals, smoking, using laxatives, drugs etc. This is one of the most recent causes of low self-esteem as young people tend to want to model themselves to fit into what they see on social media platforms. There are a lot of unrealistic ideal images on the internet of what the body should look like. This can lead to feeling unattractive and inadequate, on top of the profound disempowerment that comes with seeing your body as an object for others to behold. In similar way ladies are disproportionately affected by body image messages, so also do young men struggle with low self-esteem associated with weight and body building (muscles). The failure to do this is often been perceived as a sign of weakness or inabilities hence low self-esteem begins to build. Height, skin color, lips, head shape and other parts of the body aren’t left out of this as they tend to make an individual build negative views about themselves which also leads to low self-esteem.
9. Unemployment, Financial and Social Position
The failure or inability of an individual not been able to meet up with responsibility both to self or family due to unemployment can lead to low self-esteem. Negative public opinions or views about a group of people in regards to their financial or social position can lead to inferiority complex in those from that setting.
CONCLUSION
The causes of low self-esteem as listed above are the few amongst many others, but are fairly common. It is obvious that self-worth is been developed overtime but its type is dependent on the kind of experiences. Low self-esteem is more than having a negative feeling about oneself. It takes a toll on our lives if not managed and balanced properly. In the part III of this article we will be looking at ways to develop balanced self-esteem as the final part. Balanced self-esteem is one of the assured ways of living healthy and achieving maximum potential.
Thank you for reading..
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Here is the link to part I on the low self-esteem series.
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