Low Self-Esteem Can Contribute to General, Social Anxiety and Panic Anxiety States

What do we really mean by low self-esteem?  It is generally defined as a state of mind in which the person does not think much of themselves or their abilities.  Psychologists sometimes refer to this as low self-efficacy.

Do you know someone who suffers from low self-esteem? 

They often feel less capable and confident then their peers.  Fear of being criticized too harshly often leads to anxiety states.

In the case of Generalized Anxiety (GAD) the persons anxiety is pervasive.  They are typically on edge waiting for someone to be critical of them.

With Social Anxiety the self-esteem manifests itself as a desire to avoid people and social situations. The person with low self-efficacy believes they will be shunned or people will have little interest in what they have to say.

Thinking of going into social situations results in Panic Anxiety states for the person with low self-esteem. They often experience ‘anticipatory anxiety states’ that may erupt into full panic.

Researchers believe that underlying the low self-esteem are beliefs and opinions about oneself that are quite negative.

While some people are aware of their negative self-perception, other people automatically or habitually think that way without giving it much thought. They may believe their poor self-concept is a fact. It has become a habit and entrenched neural pathway in the brain.

Today, we have methods to help people overcome these negative, often automatic negative beliefs about oneself.  Therapy works.

What is it like to have a low opinion of oneself?

Sara’s belief that she was different and worthless.

Low Self-Esteem Can Change

Sara was the youngest of three children.  Growing up she enjoyed playing with dolls and pretending she was a chef in her play kitchen.  She went on to study culinary arts at a well-known institute. Academically, she wasn’t quite as smart as her brothers, something which she believed her parents criticized her for.  

As a child, Sara had a small group of friends.  She was bullied at school.  After a time, she began to believe that she was dumb, ‘different’ and insignificant and useless.

When around people she would become rattled when she believed those around her were more capable that she.  She never felt comfortable around males. She didn’t believe she really fit in.

Sara became very self-critical and her internal dialog was replete with negative self-talk. She became very self-conscious of perceived flaws.  She believed she needed to hide these perceived weaknesses from others. She always seemed to be on the lookout for her perceived flaws before someone else would see them.  This caused her to be overly vigilant for negativity. Obviously, this hampered her career as a budding pastry chef.

What parts of treatment were helpful for Sara?

In therapy Sara discovered that her negative self-talk and thoughts were an opinion and not a fact.  She began to realize that her habitual way of thinking had become a habit from her earlier childhood life experiences.  However, she also learned that she was now an adult and she could form different ideas and beliefs about herself.  She was no longer a vulnerable child.

The aspect of treatment that Sara found most helpful was when she was introduced to the method of challenging her inner voice. Once she accepted the fact that her automatic thoughts had become a habit, she was able to move toward challenging her self-talk. 

Therapy for Low Self-Esteem Works

At first it felt awkward. But with support and education she began to see that her sense of worthlessness was not factual.  When she started a new job as a pastry chef for a large resort hotel, she had the opportunity to experiment with showing sides of her personality and character that she had not previously shown.  Sara had the chance to experiment with meeting people with likeminded ideas and interests. She had the opportunity to embrace her strengths and weaknesses as normal and positive.  She accepted that we all have strengths and weaknesses but we are not all good at a particular skill or behavior. To judge ourselves so narrowly is a thinking error. Sara began to feel much more comfortable in her own skin.

What is the root of low self-esteem?

We don’t have to go back into childhood to change the self-esteem problem.  But, it is instructive to learn what can be done to prevent the development of low self-efficacy.  Why?  Because it can go a long way in helping us to prevent the effects of low self-esteem such as depression, and anxiety disorders.

So, what are the factors that make it more likely than not that a person will develop a poor opinion of themselves?

1.     Not meeting the expectations of others.  People feel they are not good enough because they may believe they have not met the expectations of someone important to them.  Sometimes parents fail to recognize the uniques of their child. One child may be good with their eyes and hands and a sibling better academically in reading.  Parents sometimes have unrealistic standards or expectations.

2.     Failure to receive sufficient affection, praise, recognition, love or encouragement.  This could relate to number one above. Sometimes people develop low self-esteem due to lack of positive experiences.  It is not always the negative abuse that is a factor.  Without sufficient recognition of being loved, special or doing good things the child may develop a sense that they are worthless or ‘not good enough.’ 

3.     Not fitting in with a peer groups expectations.  Being the ‘odd’ or ‘different’ one in teen years can be particularly troublesome in developing a good sense of self.  Our identity or sense of self develops at this time and there are many other psychological changes that are occurring at this time. In a sense this is a vulnerable time and our self-efficacy can be severely impacted.

4.     Most notably neglect, abuse or severe punishment in early life.  Bullying, punishment, physical or emotional neglect are very strong forces than can affect development of sense of self. Young people who experience these things often form beliefs that they are worthless and must be deserving of punishment or being shunned or rejected. 

What can we do about low self-esteem and the issues it causes with stress, anxiety and depression?

In other articles in this blog you can find information about Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) which is the treatment of choice of low self-esteem as was the case with Sara above. CBT works.

But beyond CBT, it is important to improve our wellness and sense of happiness. Not just to make life ‘less miserable’ but more fulfilling.  This can be accomplished with education, encouragement and coaching with the principles of Positive Psychology.  Let’s talk about PERMA.

The idea is not to just move from being -8 on the scale to zero but beyond zero to a positive level.  This is where PERMA or Positive Psychology concepts and actions based on new science come in to play.

What actually works to help people to develop a greater sense of well-being and fulfillment in their life? What is it that makes life most worth living?

Going beyond being less anxious means that we develop

Positive Emotions

Engagement

Relationships

Meaning

Accomplishment

In a subsequent blog article, I will be discussing Positive Psychology and PERMA in more depth.  But for now, it is important to note that the absence of pathology is not where we should stop.  Rather working on a greater sense of Well Being through improvement in the above areas can be intrinsically rewarding.

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SOURCES

Fennell, M. J. (1997). Low self-esteem: A cognitive perspective. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 25(1), 1-26.

Morton, L., Roach, L., Reid, H., & Stewart, S. H. (2012). An evaluation of a CBT group for women with low self-esteem. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 40(2), 221-225.

Seligman, Martin (2011). Flourish. New York: Free Press. pp. 16–20