Posted by sid on December 3, 2001, at 9:14:46
In reply to Re: Pill for Low self esteemELIZABETH, posted by janejj on November 30, 2001, at 16:05:36
Hi J,
actually, low self-esteem is a symptom of depression. You mention your depression perhaps being caused by your low-self-esteem... The chicken or the egg? Which came first ?I'd say work on your depression for now, it should help your self-esteem; if it's still problematic, psychotherapy might help (cognitive, behavioral short-term therapy are the most useful I find). You would learn why you think the way you think, why it does not make sense, and you would practice catching negative thoughts about yourself and actively change them. You need to be your best friend. Healing your depression might do the trick, if not, it'll require a bit more work on your part I believe. That's the kind of thing that will be useful for the rest of your life anyway.
I'm dealing with some of the same problems, except I did the therapy first and I'm now trying meds to do the rest of the work because I am still stuck with chronic depression. But I managed to get out of a major depression without meds - it was a lot of work, but it proves useful everyday, especially when I'm stressed. I still have negative thoughts about myself at times, but I've learned to say: "that's the old me still yaking, the new me knows better." And I move on.
sid
poster:sid
thread:85633
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20011202/msgs/85856.html