Self-esteem refers to how we feel about different aspects of ourselves. Our personality consists of two selves: our real/true self and our ideal self. Our ideal self/false self is who we should be according to what our parents, society and environment want us to be. Our true self, however, is who we really are, including our strong and weak points. Self-esteem comes from being able to have a realistic view of ourselves and identify our strong and weak points, being proud of the former, while accepting the latter. When you have low self-esteem, you may:
- Feel worthless
- Dislike or hate yourself
- Judge yourself harshly
- Be unable to recognise your strong points
- Blame yourself for anything
- Find it hard to assert yourself and say no
- Feel like no one likes you
- Lack confidence
- Find it hard to form relationships or name any you have
