HOW ARE YOU FEELING?

HOW ARE YOU

FINDING WAYS TO OVERCOME LOW SELF-WORTH

Self-worth is the sense of one’s own value or worth as a person, self-esteem and self-respect. For some of us, it takes a while to truly discover our personal values and strengths. Self-worth keeps us going everyday and helps us enjoy the best parts of life, whether you’re meeting up with friends or going on a date. Unfortunately, many teens tell themselves they are nothing and have not as much to bring to the table as everyone else. Throughout this article Tag ‘21 discusses problems with having low self-esteem, remedies to help boost your confidence and ultimately we will help you believe in yourself more by taking a few steps.

THE FACTS

Having low self-esteem can be very harmful towards both your physical and mental health.

It can lead to many issues such as not trying your best in class or not being as dedicated to achieving your goals and ambitions. In extreme cases, low self-worth could lead to selfharm. In many cases, they are rooted in bullying during childhood. According to Self-Esteem-School.com, “a study was carried out among some female students, 80% of them claimed that their negative body image was linked to the negative remarks made by friends and family”. This is a very tough problem to tackle and in a school or home environment can be drastically difficult to control.

Also, sometimes you have challenges such as high school crushes and relationships that aren’t always guaranteed to go the way you want. Although difficult to experience, rejections are completely normal at times and you might need to accept the fact that you have your life ahead of you to find the one for which you’re destined. According to Luvze.com, “some studies have found a correlation between chronic rejection and low selfesteem over time.”

On top of schooling and crushes, let’s talk about the impact of Covid-19. It has been and still is a major influence on self-worth. This unexpected pandemic has been shocking for not just some people’s physical but mental health. The fact that some of us haven’t being as productive or active due to multiple lockdowns has had a heavy toll on motivation levels. This can become an uphill struggle mentally. Some have started new hobbies and focused on them to get through this tough time but that hasn’t worked for all.

If you or a friend are experiencing these issues, we have some helpful links at the end of this article.

EXPERIENCES & SOLUTIONS

There are many effective and reliable methods to boost your self-worth such as creating new pastimes or getting into specific routines. Tag ‘21 asked our team how they have dealt with some of their low self-worth moments. We spoke to Rachel Carter, aged 17 from Bexhill. She wanted to give some advice on low self-worth after breaking up with somebody. She started with, “Don’t worry, everyone gets rejected and it’s not the end of the world, just remember you are loved by your friends and family.” Rachel continued,

HOW ARE YOU FEELING?

“You’re still young and have loads of time to find the one for you. It sometimes happens when you least expect it.” This message clearly sums up that even though you may feel upset, there is still a light at the end of the tunnel.

“I STRUGGLE A LOT WITH SELF CONFIDENCE AND FEELING FINE.”

RAISING SELF-ESTEEM

www.nhs.uk/conditions/stress-anxietydepression/raising-low-self-esteem/

WHAT IS MENTAL HEALTH?

www.positivepsychology.com/self-worth/

Curtis Kenwright Design: Curtis Kenwright Photography: Oscar Tarbox

We also interviewed Jack Sheppard, aged 17 from Eastbourne. Here is what he had to say about his low self-confidence due to body image and how this overall impacted his life. “Personally I struggle a lot with self-confidence and feeling fine. I see me comparing myself to other people a lot. Somehow I’ve become obsessed with this, making me feel even worse, becoming fixated with a goal that’s impossible to achieve just sent me to an endless spiral of sadness. Trying to fix this is a little difficult as there’s no instruction, and everyone who tells you just says, “be yourself“ which is a bit useless. Personally, I’m trying to first get comfortable with my looks so I try new clothes until I find my style; once I get that, I’ll try other things.”

This article has looked at what selfworth is, how having a low amount can affect you and what methods you could use to get you through tough times like these. If you are experiencing any of the issues we talked about in this article please don’t be shy, use the links below to get more methods and information to help you feel better.

Names have been changed.