Improving Self-Esteem

It’s normal to be self-critical or to compare yourself to other people sometimes. Everyone goes through a crisis of confidence at some point in their life. Major life changes such as moving house, becoming a parent, or the end of a relationship, can knock your confidence. There might also be more specific situations that make you compare yourself to others. But if you tend to put yourself down a lot and constantly doubt your abilities, or if you frequently see yourself as being not as good as those around you and you believe that other people view you in a negative way, then you may have a problem with low self-esteem. If this sounds familiar to you, it can be helpful to understand why you might have low self-esteem and to learn about strategies you can use to manage these feelings.

Improving Self-Esteem is associated with:

Alcohol/Substance Issues, Building Confidence in Social Situations, Coping with Worries about Going Out, Dealing with Stress, Eating Difficulties, Loss and Bereavement, Managing Emotions, Self-Harm, Trauma, Working with Your Worries

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Learn

Tell me more

Daylight

Daylight is your expert guide through worry and anxiety, whenever and wherever you need it.

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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.

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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

Tools for self-assessing

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

Ways to manage

Sleepio

Sleepio is a 6 week online program designed by sleep experts and based on cognitive and behavioural techniques.

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NHS Inform – Self Esteem Guide

This self-help guide is intended for people with mild-to-moderate mental health issues.

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Tips and Resources for Improving your Self-Esteem

There are lots of things you can do to improve your self-esteem.

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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.

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Increase Your Positive Activities

An exercise in helping you find a balance in life and actively putting those positive activities back into your life.

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

Local support and resources

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 Wellbeing Lothian website has been developed to provide information, self-help resources and links to help you manage your mental health and wellbeing.

We want to help you make changes in your own lives and point you in a direction to start doing so. This is Wellbeing Lothian’s aim.

Learn More about Wellbeing Lothian

This website is not intended in any way to replace the advice of a clinician. Specific advice should be sought in specific situations from a properly qualified health worker.

CONTACT US

If you have any questions about our website or are having difficulty finding something in particular, please fill in a few details below and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can.

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Edinburgh Health & Social Care Partnership
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East Lothian Health & Social Care Partnership
West Lothian Health & Social Care Partnership

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