Improving Self-Esteem
Learn
Daylight
Daylight is your expert guide through worry and anxiety, whenever and wherever you need it.
An Overview of Self-Esteem
The amount of sleep required by each person varies. On average, people sleep between 7-9 hours a night, depending on a variety of things. Some people can function well with only 5-6 hours of sleep a night, whereas others may need up to 10 hours. It’s important that you find your own level.
What Could be Keeping You from Feeling Better?
Feeling low can affect your daily routine and behaviour, which in turn can lead to feeling even lower. A lack of energy or motivation can lead to you doing less, not completing your daily tasks and letting other people make decisions for you. You may notice that you become less and less active, don’t go out much, and neglect your favourite activities. This is the vicious cycle of low mood.
Self-Assess
Do you have low self-esteem?
Low self-esteem affects how you think, behave and feel, both emotionally and in your body. Here are some common experiences described by people who struggle with low self-esteem:
How your body might feel
- Tired / fatigued
- Low in energy
- Headaches
- Tension
- Blushing or feeling hot in public
Thoughts you might have
- You might have thoughts that you’re not good enough
- You might think that other people view you in a negative way
- Blaming yourself for things that aren’t your fault
- Assuming that you can’t do things before you’ve even tried
- Brooding on your mistakes or on things you think you’ve not done well
Feelings you might have
- Anxiety
- Shame
- Guilt
- Low mood
- Flat or fed up
- Hopelessness
- Anger
Things you might do
- Pass on new experiences or challenges because you believe you’ll fail
- Try to achieve perfection most of the time, or have standards that are unrealistically high
- Avoid scenarios that put you in the spotlight (e.g. speaking out, competitive sports, putting yourself out there in friendships and relationships)
- Seek excessive approval or reassurance from others
- Not be assertive and say “sorry” all the time
- Comfort eat or over-control what you eat
If any of these sound familiar, you can find out more about low self-esteem in the ‘Learn’ section above. You’ll also find some helpful tips and advice on improving your self-esteem in the ‘Manage’ section below.
Manage
Sleepio
Sleepio is a 6 week online program designed by sleep experts and based on cognitive and behavioural techniques.
NHS Inform – Self Esteem Guide
This self-help guide is intended for people with mild-to-moderate mental health issues.
Tips and Resources for Improving your Self-Esteem
There are lots of things you can do to improve your self-esteem.
Increase Your Positive Activities
An exercise in helping you find a balance in life and actively putting those positive activities back into your life.
Keep an Activity Record
A table you can use to schedule your daily activities and plan your week.
Tips on Managing Change in Our Lives
We all have to cope and manage with change in our lives for lots of reasons. Here are some tips and thoughts on navigating through a period of change.
Activities You Can Try at Home
Increasing your activity levels can help improve your mood.
Relaxation
If you feel tense a lot of the time, you can try learning some relaxation skills, as these should be helpful.
Computerised Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy – CBT – is a psychological therapy based on the relationships between what we think, what we do and how we feel. CBT teaches you how to recognise and tackle problems in the here and now, rather than in the past.
Support
With support from the people in your life and maybe with a little help from other sources like the ideas on this website, you’ll most likely find a number of ways to improve your self- esteem. However, if you have concerns about your mental health more generally and think you may need further support, please speak to your GP in the first instance.
Here are some other sources of support you might want to consider:
- It might be helpful to have a look at some of the other pages on this website including the sections on:
- Living Life offers a range of structured psychological interventions and therapies to improve mental health and wellbeing. This service is appointment-based and specifically for low mood, or mild/moderate depression or anxiety. Living Life are open Monday to Friday, from 1pm to 9pm, and you can phone them on 0800 328 9655 for an assessment appointment.
- Computerised Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (cCBT) is a highly effective treatment for people with mild-to-moderate mental health difficulties. There are several online user-friendly programmes that NHS Lothian can provide access to. To find out more, speak with your GP, or visit the cCBT section on this website.
The Lothian Health and Social Care Partnership websites are also a good place to look for locally available support:
- The ‘iThrive’ website focuses on support available Edinburgh-wide
- ‘Midspace’ is Midlothian’s online source of mental health and wellbeing information
- ‘Eastspace’ is East Lothian’s online source of mental health and wellbeing information
- ‘Westspace’ is West Lothian’s online source of mental health and wellbeing information.