Mental health stigma can affect one's self-esteem. Mental health conditions are a common yet often misunderstood aspect of human life. Despite their prevalence, the stigma attached to these conditions remains a formidable obstacle for those who bear such diagnoses. Negative stereotypes, discrimination, and social isolation experienced by individuals with mental health diagnoses can severely affect their self-esteem. In this post, we will explore the practice of defying the stigma surrounding mental health, emphasizing its role in nurturing self-esteem in those who carry such labels. 

A supportive community can benefit our self-esteem. Mental health is an essential aspect of our overall wellbeing, yet we often grapple with it in isolation. The stigma surrounding mental health challenges can make it difficult for individuals to open up about their struggles. However, building a supportive community can be a transformative force in the lives of those dealing with mental health issues. In today's post, I will share my own insights and lived experience on the importance of a supportive community for the self-esteem of those with mental health issues. 

We each have successes in our lives, but can we use our successes to increase self-esteem? We all have made goals and achieved them, whether small or large. Yet oftentimes, we overlook these successes when life gets to be overwhelming. Have you forgotten your own successes, or even your inherent worth, when life gets to be too much? In today's post, I would like to remind all of us that self-esteem can be boosted by our successes. 

Positive self-talk is important. The choices that we make and the experiences we have shape our ongoing growth process. This includes how we talk to ourselves. Those around us only see a small portion of who we are. However, each one of us knows ourselves best. This is because we live with ourselves every moment of our lives. The internal conversation that we have with ourselves shapes who we are and how we navigate this world. In today's post, I want to share some ideas regarding the importance of positive self-talk.

I work to cultivate my strengths, as living with a mental health diagnosis can present unique challenges to one's self-esteem and overall wellbeing. I know the internal struggles with stigma, self-doubt, and societal expectations can often overshadow my sense of self-worth. However, there is a powerful approach that can help rebuild and enhance self-esteem: focusing on and cultivating one's strengths.

Most of us are familiar with imposter syndrome. We tend to feel like we are not good enough, even in areas where we typically excel, and end up sabotaging many aspects of our life, including relationships and professional development.

What are your personal values, and how do they affect your self-esteem? We all have different values that we live by. They can be honesty, generosity, kindness, happiness, loyalty, patience, etc. These values play a crucial role in building our lives. They help shape how we think and act with others. They also influence our emotions, making them essential in building self-esteem. In this article, we look at the relationship between personal values and self-esteem and how to use these values to build our self-worth and confidence.

Throughout my life, I've had an internal dialog of thoughts that offers commentary on my daily life. Recently I've noticed that some of those thoughts can be negative. The negative thoughts occur when I feel that I've done something wrong. These thoughts could come after driving too aggressively, snapping at a friend, or being lazy. Today, I'd like to talk about how those negative thoughts can be damaging and how to accept negative thoughts with grace and build self-esteem at the same time.

In my last blog post, I spoke about how changing the viewpoint I took on my life, and my accomplishments helped to build my self-esteem. Taking a long-term view of my progress over a 10-year period showed that my trend, like that of the stock market, was upwards and to be celebrated. There's another example of changing my viewpoint that helped my self-esteem get stronger that I will share today.

Life eventually taught me that changing my view could help my self-esteem and let me feel better about myself. My self-esteem suffered for many years because my view was focused firmly on the things I didn't accomplish. There was no way to deny that I didn't finish this thing, and never started that thing, and failed to reach my goal at the other. With my mind's telescope pointed only at my disappointments, I could come to no other conclusion than I was not worthy of respect from myself or others.