Stress Center Peer Support

Greetings --

How can this program help my self esteem? Mine is very low and I believe that it underlies most of my anxities -- especially the social anxieties.

WW

Hi WW. I have wonderes the same thing myself. I wish I had some words of wisdom for you, just know you're not alone. Emily

Hello
I had those same concerns when I started the program. I have had anxiety/panic attacks all my life. I did not realize I had some underlying depression as a result of my anxiety. My self esteem was very low. I was constantly beating myself up with guilt and worry. My negativity and perfectionism had also contributed to low self esteem.
I am currently on week 13. What is interesting is as the program progressed I began to notice i was beginning to feel better about myself. Little accomplishments such as taking chances with driving, socializing, making myself step outide my comfort zone helped.
Initially I felt I didn't do it good enough but the more I challenged myself I began to see that there is power in just doing. Slowly I began to feel better about who I was and how far I had come. I still have bad days but I am more compassionate to myself. By being more compassionate to myself, I have even noticed when I pass a mirror I can smile at myself and feel happy. In the past when I looked in the mirror, I couldn't look myself in the eyes because I didn't really respect myself. Now I am beginning to love myself and no matter what I will ultimately be ok. Hope this helps. take care and God Bless,

WW and Emily,
This program does work on self-esteem and you are right about it being the root of our anxiety. I have extremely low self esteem. Most of us here do. It just surfaces itself differently in different people. What Lucinda does is she gradually retrains us to perceive ourselves differently than we have in the past. (Believe me I have body dismorphic disorder. I do not see what everyone else sees when I look in the mirror). It is a gradual thing though, it won't happen overnight. You really have to stick to it and get control of your thoughts. Remember, you are what you think. So start changing those thoughts right now. Look in the mirror every day and tell yourself that you love you and you will take care of you. You will feel stupid at first, but your mind will gradually grasp this and begin to accept it. Then you will begin to see that you start to slowly behave differently and people start to treat you differently and then good things just start happening. Please be kind to yourselves. You have to start somewhere. Here is the best place.

I've noticed a positive improvement in my self esteem and self confidence since I started the program (am on session 8) but I could still use something more in this area. Possibly some practical exercises on building confidence. My anxiety though, is at an all time low, so it has definitely done the job in that area.

Mary,
There is a website called life-with confidence by Catherin Pratt. She has a whole section on how to raise self esteem and gives specific activities to use as practice. Very worthwhile. You should try it. I love it.

jugray- Great, thanks for the info on the web site. I appreciate it.

WW I also have very low self esteem but I have a HUGE EGO! I was always confusing the two but to clarify self esteem is your self worth confidence. Ego is when your just thinking about yourself, which I can do non stop if I don't get out of myself.