How to Deal With Low Self-Esteem: 6 Effective Methods

Last Updated on October 17, 2023

The modern world is a busy place and can involve juggling work with your personal life. Even when you feel on top of the world, this is tricky! But it’s even more challenging during tough times.

Low self-esteem is a difficult condition that can make everyday life hard. It can take a serious toll on your mental health when you believe you have no value and are unlovable. Knowing how to build confidence and self-esteem is vital to living the best you can!

This is where these essential tips on how to deal with low self-esteem come in. Soon enough, it’ll be easier to combat those negative beliefs about yourself!

Table of Contents

What is Low Self-Esteem?

Low self-esteem is a mental state in which you might feel unsure about who you are, or what you’re capable of.

It’s a feeling most women are probably familiar with to some degree – are you constantly afraid of making mistakes? Letting other people down? That’s low self-esteem.

It can be really detrimental to your relationships and your professional life – and while it’s not a mental health condition itself, it can definitely contribute to certain disorders. You can commonly see this in anxiety, depression, and bipolar disorder, to name a few.

Signs of Low Self-Esteem in a Woman

Being able to see the physical signs of low self-esteem in a woman is important – watching out for our friends and family is much easier if you’re aware! A few of the most common signs are:

Becoming upset from criticism easily – those suffering from low self-esteem may find even minor criticism to be a personal attack, so be mindful of how you speak to them.
Withdrawing from social events – not participating in anything means that a woman can’t embarrass herself.
She stops looking after her appearance, or conversely, is always immaculate – both can demonstrate a lack of confidence in their usual appearance.
Drinking more than usual – alcohol is sometimes used as an escape from negative feelings.

Low Self-Esteem Behaviors

It can be hard to know whether you’re suffering with low self-esteem – especially when you are! The feelings you have can feel totally justified and rational, but these feelings may be baseless in the real world and exist only in our minds.

Keep an eye on how often you’re doing the following, and reach out to your support network or a professional if you think they’re excessive:

Being critical of, or negatively joking about, yourself.
Finding it hard to celebrate your achievements.
Blaming yourself when things go wrong – even if you couldn’t have done much about it!
Comparing yourself negatively to others.
Not accepting compliments.
Feeling guilty when you have fun.
Feelings of sadness, worthlessness or anxiety – remember, everyone is different, and you are valuable!

Causes of Low Self-Esteem

In order to understand how to deal with low self-esteem, you might need to first understand where those feelings come from. The really sad truth is that many of us get these feelings from childhood – especially with the standards that young girls are often held to.

If you found school tough because you weren’t like your peers, or your parents had very high expectations of your achievements that you struggled to meet – don’t worry! You’re not even close to alone in those regards, and plenty of women have overcome the same feelings to become confident, strong and independent.

Social media also has a massive influence on young women in this modern age, so remember that people only ever show the best of themselves on there! Social media is literally just a highlight reel.

Taking a break can be an absolute a breath of fresh air, whether that’s restricting access or totally deleting social apps.

Taking the Right Steps to Improve Your Self-Perception

It can seem almost impossible to lift yourself out of that self-esteem pit, but it’s absolutely not!

Plenty of women have done it before you – mother’s, business women, doctors, lawyers and just about any woman in any walk of life has felt these feelings at some point, no matter how successful they are.

You need to take steps to feel better about yourself. It’s unlikely to happen passively over time. You need to be proactive in stopping low self-esteem in its tracks.

We’ve chosen some of the very best options for how to deal with low-self esteem right here.

6 Effective Ways You Can Learn How to Deal With Low Self-Esteem

Don’t forget about these self-esteem tips! Pin ’em to come back later!

how to help a woman with low self-esteem

1) Practice self-care

An effective way to begin tackling feelings of low self-esteem is to start loving who you are and looking after your mental well-being. This may sound hard if you have been low on confidence for a while, but it is worth making an effort to start being kinder to yourself.

By realizing that you are a strong, likeable person with lots to offer the world and deserving of love, you can start to fight back against the negative feelings low self-esteem can bring. A good tip for this is making daily mindset affirmations that reinforce positive feelings about yourself and your value.

It can also be a very good idea to stop judging yourself so harshly in everyday life. This can be a common problem for people with poor self-esteem and something to be aware of.

With the pressure of perfection being more prevalent than ever, it is easy to beat yourself up over every little thing you don’t get 100% right. This is a dangerous approach to take though, as not only does it lead to low levels of self-worth, but makes them worse if they were poor already.

If you want to know how to build confidence and self-esteem, the simplest answer is that it all begins with you treating yourself the way you deserve!

2) Surround yourself with people who love you

In addition to taking steps to show yourself more kindness, you can cope with poor self-esteem by being careful of who you surround yourself with. Negative people are likely to reinforce negative views you have of yourself – only exacerbating low self-worth.

The most common example of this is having friends who constantly make comments that make you feel worthless. If all they do is tell you how bad you are at everything, you’re obviously better off replacing them. Seeking out people who recognize those physical signs of low self-esteem and support you is super valuable.

Remember, you deserve only the best!

You have every right to surround yourself with a close-knit group of family and friends who love you (and show it!) regularly. This could be your parents acknowledging their love for you each time you see them, or a best friend reminding you how amazing you are when you feel down.

Positive affirmation of your best qualities by those closest to you will show that you have lots to offer the world. It’s no surprise that this will help you build up your confidence!

3) Exercise

Get that sweat on girl! When you work out, feel-good endorphins are released into your bloodstream, which make you feel great and positively impact your overall mental health.

Staying in shape with regular exercise can also have a positive impact on how you view your own body and enhance how you feel about yourself overall.

If you decide to exercise outdoors when the weather allows it, being out in the sunshine can give you a hit of Vitamin D to boost your mood, whilst being out in the fresh air can also make you feel better.

Whether you practice yoga, go for a jog, or simply head out for a relaxing bit of you-time on your bike, exercise is a top way to cope if you do not feel great about yourself.

4) Take up some new hobbies

New hobbies are absolutely vital to feeling great – for so, so many reasons! Making the effort to learn new skills can positively impact not only how you view yourself but also how you feel about yourself.

There are lots of choices to mull over, so you’ll have no problem finding one you enjoy. This ultimate list of hobbies for women in their 20s will be your guide! Whether it is photography, woodwork, painting or playing a musical instrument, there are bound to be at least a few you will love.

Taking the time to get involved with hobbies can be lots of fun, a great creative outlet (creativity is super important from time to time!), and maybe even the chance to socialize with new groups of like-minded women!

5) tDCS treatment

Low self-esteem is a condition which can result in other mental health issues for people who suffer from it. Depression is one of the most devastating by-products of low self-esteem’s negative impact on your self-image, as it spirals into what feels like an inescapable situation.

When it comes to how to deal with low self-esteem, those suffering with depression or anxiety can find it an almost insurmountable task to practice any of the other advice in this post.

Fortunately, tDCS has become increasingly popular worldwide in the last few years and much easier to get your hands on. The benefits of tDCS include managing chronic pain and enhancing cognitive function, but its main use case is in treating the feelings of depression or anxiety which low self-esteem can cause.

It uses a non-invasive brain stimulation technique to regulate mood functions within the brain. tDCS is also a good option if medication or psychotherapy have not worked for you or are routes you are not keen to pursue.

6) Try to socialize

This last tip can be a tricky one for people – but it really is one of the best ideas on how to improve your self-esteem.

If you are low on confidence, heading out to socialize with friends in a busy bar or restaurant can often be the last thing you feel like doing. But honestly, it’s truly worth it when it comes to rebuilding your self-confidence so you can start to feel better about yourself.

If you can find it within yourself to socialize, you avoid becoming isolated at home and facing the thoughts that come with it. Your brain might love to run wild, worrying that no one likes you enough to hang out with you.

Once you start striking up conversations with friends when you’re out, seeing that people not only listen to what you say but also value your thoughts, can be a major confidence boost.

Socializing could also lead you to make new friends, yet another way it can help enhance your self-image. Realizing that people who do not even know you want to be around you can be a powerful boost for your self-esteem as well!

In addition, making new friends shows you that you have the charisma, charm and conversational skills to do so. This is another major lift for your confidence and can help you cope with issues around low self-esteem.

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Coping with low self-esteem in the modern world

If you are a busy, ambitious woman striving to do her best in life, you know how challenging it can be at times. Low self-esteem does not make this any easier! No doubt about it: this is something that can really have a major impact on work and personal life.

If you suffer from feelings of low self-worth, it is essential to find effective ways to cope with them. This can help you to not only feel better about yourself but also have the confidence to live your best life.

Improving your self-esteem is a journey, but these tips on how to deal with low-self esteem are the perfect place to start.