The Disease of Low Self-Esteem

Many people do not fully understand the extent to which low self-esteem can corrupt their lives. While there are many books, articles and gurus that purport to give advice on how to develop good self-esteem, I have yet to see anyone explain the big picture. The holistic view of how not having good self-esteem can systematically transform an otherwise well intentioned person with potential into a bitter failure that has squandered his opportunities and life. In this article I will walk you through how this can occur so that the true importance of fixing a person's 'broken' self-esteem early can be seen. 

 Many people don't realize that low self-esteem causes behavior abnormalities in people that can have great consequences in how they relate to people which in turn can affect how you do or don't participate in life and do or don't take advantage of opportunities. For example one abnormality related to low self-esteem has to do with self-absorption. Here's how it works:
 
If someone has low self-esteem, they usually are damaged emotionally to the extent that any energy that they put into living usually has to be focused on themselves just to survive. It takes a person with good self esteem to have enough left over energy to think of others and to want to connect with other people. In the modern work place however, much of advancement and success depends on a person's social and people skills. Making friends, showing interest in others, making others feel good, projecting a positive attitude with lots of energy...these are all traits of someone that has good self-esteem and not inconsequentially they are also the traits needed to succeed in the modern world.
 
If you have low self-esteem you tend to not feel comfortable around others because you inherently feel 'unworthy'. This in turn manifests in insecurity around others which the un-selfaware person then lets manifest into feelings such as jealousy, irritation, arrogance or abrasiveness. Those with good self-esteem of course will not know that the underlying reason for the low self-esteem person's antisocial behavior is a self-esteem problem. They will simply not socialize or be inclusive with this person. This ends up then becoming somewhat of a self-fulfilling prophecy. 
 
The more shut out and not included the low self-esteem person is, the more insecure they become which in turn lowers their self-esteem even more. They then manifest anger, anxiousness, nervousness, jealousy, etc even more which just continues the vicious cycle. Before you know it the low self-esteem person is not getting promoted, is missing opportunities and their entire career trajectory becomes sabotaged. 
 
This same kind of vicious cycle can happen in non-work related arenas. Just think of high school and how a child with low self-esteem might feel around others. If they had good self-esteem they would feel confident around the other kids, make friends, feel accepted and develop normally which would reinforce their good self-esteem. But what if the child has poor self-esteem?
 
Instead of feeling secure around the other kids, the low self-esteem child feels awkward, nervous and like he doesn't fit in. The other kids sense this and think he is 'shy' or 'different'. He doesn't bond with the other kids and is alone which makes him even MORE insecure and lowers his self-esteem further still. Eventually as the other kids progress, form cliques, date, socialize outside of school...the low self-esteem child that was never able to connect in the beginning is shut out of all this. He is left behind developmentally and if not corrected in time can go on to scar the child into adulthood.
 
As can be seen by these examples, poor self-esteem is something that absolutely must be caught and treated early on. If not it poses a real risk of completely sabotaging the healthy development of a person's life.

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