Anxiety

How Do You Feel About Yourself?

Anxiety is more prevalent than ever in today's society. It seems that new sources of stress become apparent each and every day. But in many cases, external stressors are not the primary cause. Sometimes a poor self-image is to blame.

Low self-esteem is a growing problem among young girls, but no one is immune to it. The pressures of life can make anyone feel inadequate, whether in the area of job performance, finances, looks or social status. Even those who seem to have it all sometimes suffer from poor self-esteem. And more often than not, low self-esteem is accompanied by natural-anxiety-depression.

Those with low self-esteem tend to look to others for affirmation that they are "good enough." But they may or may not get that affirmation. And even if they do, it is rarely enough. If they do not see repeated signs of acceptance from others, they fall back into the same destructive thought patterns. This can have a snowball effect, causing more and more anxiety.

Working on Your Self-Image

In order to turn a negative self-image around, we must change the way we think. It takes work, and it certainly won't happen overnight. But by building positive self-esteem, we can eliminate a pervasive cause of this problem. Here are some things you can do to improve your self-esteem:

* Realize that nobody's perfect. If you feel that you aren't attractive enough, for example, remember how much work goes into creating those flawless images you see on TV and in magazines. Stars have dedicated makeup artists and hairstylists who make sure not a hair is out of place, and photos are usually airbrushed to hide imperfections.

* Dispense with the notion that you're only worth what other people think you're worth. Many people put others down as a defense mechanism to mask their own low self-esteem. And those who are indifferent have their own lives to deal with. It's up to you to be the best you can be and be happy with that.

* Make a list of the things you like about yourself. Don't be shy or modest, because it's for your eyes only. Refer to this list when you're down on yourself.

* Change the things you can change, and accept the things you cannot. We all have things we don't like about ourselves. Some of those are within our control, and we can work toward turning them into positives. Others are not, and focusing on them gets us nowhere.

How you feel about yourself can greatly affect your stress levels. If you're happy with yourself, you have a head start on dealing with external sources of stress. If you're not, any stress you experience is piled on top of more stress. By working on our self-esteem, we can keep anxiety from getting the best of us.