Are you experiencing low self-esteem? After going through a phase of depression or mental illness? Then you are not the only one. Experiencing mental illness the first time itself is an excruciating experience. It feels as if you are losing your mind forever.

   The 1st thing that’s affected during mental illness, is your confidence, self-esteem, and belief in yourself. Very often it’s the other way around. Constant phases of low self-esteem over some time turn into a mental health issue. The intensity of mental illness drops your confidence further. You feel incapable of doing the things you used to do.

   This blog is for you if you are going through a low-esteem phase due to your mental health issues or even in general. This blog will cover how mental illness affects your self-esteem. And how you can work towards it to regain your confidence level.

   Without further ado, before we dive into the tips on how to build your self-esteem back. Let us first understand what is self-esteem and how is it connected with your mental health.

What is Self-esteem?

    Self-esteem is all about how much you value and respect yourself. How much faith and confidence do you have in your abilities, ideas, feelings, and opinions. It is not based on 1 experience but on various experiences accumulated over some time. It is how you look at yourself compared to other human beings. It is a judgment you form about yourself. Based on certain life experiences and your observations of yourself.

What is the relation between mental illness and self-esteem? 

    We human beings at the deep level want to feel loved and give love. This helps us to keep our emotional quotient healthy and unaffected. When we do not feel loved, or accepted or the surrounding doesn’t support us, it lowers our self-esteem. Our negative self-talk over some time turns into guilt, hopelessness, shame, etc .The constant cycle of negative self-talk makes it difficult for you to handle normal day-to-day stresses of life. This further adds to the loop of thoughts validating it. And making you even more vulnerable to mental health issues.

      This opens the door for depression and other mental illnesses to sneak in. Research conducted on Vietnamese students in 2019, suggests people with low self-esteem are more vulnerable to anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues. The reasons for constant low self-esteem could be many, like your surroundings, toxic relationships, body image, academic performance, etc. This results in negative self-belief and other intense emotions. The reasons for mental illness also could be many. Low self-esteem is one of them. But after every mental illness, one commonly goes through a phase of low self-esteem. Due to the intensity of damage, it does to our emotional system.

  How does mental illness affect your self-esteem?

    Before we get diagnosed with any mental illness, our spiral-down journey of confidence has already started. With some behavioral changes that start lowering our confidence. And once we get diagnosed it even dips lower. The intensity of mental illness drops your confidence level immensely. You feel incapable of doing the things you used to do earlier.

     In physical illness, our mental sanity is in an operational state to make certain decisions. But with mental illness, since our intellectual ability is connected with mental health it shatters our self-esteem massively.

     Hence with the awareness of mental illness, it is also essential that we address our levels of self-esteem. Because in mental illness our immunity is confidence. When attacked it’s difficult to operate with the normal human ability to process things and operate daily.

    This delays the recovery by refraining from getting help from the right professional. This is one of the reasons why people do not dare to take 1 step ahead to get treated.

     When I was going through depression I was afraid I would never be able to feel normal or live a normal life. No matter how many years of personal and professional experience I had I felt like a zero at that moment.

    During depression, you go through overwhelming feelings and emotions. They drop your confidence like falling flat on the face. When your self-esteem crashes down, it feels as though you mentally have to restart the journey from 0 levels of confidence. It feels like you are being sent back to nursery from college.

   You feel more vulnerable and scared of the outside world and how they would treat you. These constant negative loops of thoughts make you feel unworthy of anything.

    Hence, Self-esteem plays a crucial role in the recovery journey from mental illness. 2 things that helped me a lot are reading self-help books and trying my hands on any form of creative activity. They refilled the sense of confidence that I lost during the illness.

     How to regain your self-esteem after suffering from mental illness?

    As you know the nature of many mental illnesses is chronic. Building your self-esteem should be your long-term goal. As there could be fluctuations in your self-esteem throughout your recovery journey. Especially during relapse. But with time and self-practice it will only get better.

    Below are 10 powerful ways to regain your self-esteem, based on my experience, research, and intuition. Before we start it’s essential to understand that conditioning your mind with low self-esteem took years for you. Rewiring your mind to boost your self-esteem will also take some time. So keeping up your patience and not losing hope will get you out of this negative state gradually.

1. Be self-compassionate 

When the world goes against you, you feel upset. But when you get against you,you become your enemy. When you are mentally ill you go through bouts of guilt, and shame and blame yourself for everything. Without realizing if not you, then who will be kind and compassionate to you?

    Do not be so hard on yourself. Its okie to be not okie. You have to live your entire life with this mind and body. If you go against yourself how are you going survive in the long run? Learn to forgive yourself and restart with an open mind. Practice self-compassion for that little child that is inside you.

2. Say Affirmations 

Many researchers have claimed the benefits of Affirmations to train your subconscious mind. If you are not able to do it for yourself by changing your beliefs. Take support of such techniques which will help you train your subconscious mind. The best time to say these affirmations is early morning and before sleeping. During this time our subconscious minds are active.

3.  Read motivating books 

One of the reasons I used to read motivating books is to get some hope and regain my lost confidence. It’s an undeniable fact that the right books will lift you. Books give diverse perspectives, challenge your existing belief system, and help you to take a step ahead. Robin Sharma’s  books used to be one of my favorites during those low phases

4. Creativity 

What was the last time you created something of your own since your childhood? We as humans are born creators with unique skills. Many people overlook this aspect of human beings due to the diverse conditioning of society. Try your hand at things that you love to do. This will not only build your confidence but will give you hope to start something new out of your passion.

5. Surround yourself with Positive people 

 You have already gone through a lot of emotional torture because of your illness. Why would you want to worsen it by staying between the people who do not support or lift you? They say you are a total of 5 people you spend time with. Without realizing we start grasping their energy. Be around people who offer solutions not aggravate the existing problem.

6.  Maintain a Journal 

Journaling your thoughts has various benefits. They not only enhance your clarity with time but declutter your trapped emotions. Since mental illness is chronic, you are always in fear of relapse. So, staying prepared by knowing yourself better will make you self-manageable for any relapses coming your way. Journaling will help you build your awareness of yourself and your surroundings. When you are prepared you act more confident.

7.  Stay in present 

 I know you must be thinking what is the relevance of this with Self-esteem. But we are often victims of our self-negative talks. These are either about your past actions or future fears. By learning the art of mindfulness you will learn the art of staying in the present. When you are experiencing most of the present time to the fullest. This will reduce your chances of negative -self-talk.

8.  Practice Gratitude

They say Gratitude opens all the doors to Abundance in life This is not a saying it has worked for many. When you practice gratitude it will make you feel good bout yourself. It shifts your attention from things that you do not have in life to what you have. So do not underestimate the power of practicing Gratitude in your day-to-day life.

9.  Hire a Life Coach 

 I strongly believe the recovery phase of mental illness needs an accountability partner. They would be your biggest motivation and help you boost your self-esteem to the next level. I personally never hired one though. But the phase when I was going through Covid I was doing some Coach programs. To my surprise, they were insanely filled with motivation and positivity. I felt I was able to recover fast because of the content and vibe I was consuming during my training. Try 1: 1 free session with a life coach if you are not sure.

10. Get yourself fit

    Exercising not only elevates your mood but helps you build a strong body. You must have seen a lot of parents encourage kids to participate in sports. One of the reasons is to build their strength and confidence simultaneously. If this doesn’t work for you then there is a famous saying by many thought leaders,” Fake it, till you make it”. Sometimes actions speak louder than the inner voice. All you have to do is behave against what your inner voice is saying. And soon you will start admiring the person you are becoming. This is one of the best ways to regain lost confidence in some situations.

    Conclusion  

             The new term “Delulu” has taken Gen Z by storm these days. The origin of this term was traced back to K K-pop fan community. The term was used by the community to address obsessive fans who seemed to be acting in a delusional way. According to the philosopher Carlos Garcia, the key to this philosophy is confidence. The famous phrase “Delulu” is the soul” simply means delusion is the solution. People are using “Delulu” as a method to increase their self-esteem and keep them motivated.

     It means staying positive when things can get tough. However, my idea here to express this topic is if it’s helping people cope in certain areas of life just with the wildfire of this term among Gen Z then why not? As far as they use it positively to enhance their self-confidence and be hopeful. Hopefully, this term helps as a technique to the new Gen Z in a form of the trend to help them cope with daily stresses of life and uncertainties by being slightly “Delulu”

        Whether you are going through mental health issues, or finding it difficult to maintain high self-esteem. It is something every individual should strive towards for better mental well-being. And if you are stuck, getting help at the right time will only save you from big problems. Remember seeking help from a professional does not make you weak. It makes you the most sensible and smartest person. Who lets the professional handle the distressed mind rather than the world filled with stigma and misconceptions?