Do you feel that you are not worth anything? Do you have the feeling that everyone else is better than you? Do you tend to apologize for almost everything you do? Would you like to feel better about yourself?

One of the principal factors that differentiates the human being from animals is the fact that he/she is conscious of him/herself: the capacity to establish an individual identity and give it a value. In other words, each one of us has the capacity of defining who we are, and later "deciding" if we like this identity or not. The problem arises when we reject parts of ourselves. When a person judges him/herself and comes to the conclusion that he/she does not like him/herself, that overall he/she considers him/herself to be a person of little value, we say that this person has problems of self-esteem.

Self-esteem is a fundamental condition for psychological survival, because without certain doses of self-esteem, life would be tremendously sad. Judging and rejecting oneself produces tremendous pain. As a consequence, it is possible that the person comes to the point where they are avoiding with all their strength that this rejection they feel towards themselves increases. He/she may put up defensive barriers to avoid new judgements and possible rejections. It may be, then, that this person assumes fewer social, academic or professional risks. It is possible that they have difficulties relating to other people, having an interview to get a job, attempting something in which they could possibly be unsuccessful, etc.

The person with low self-esteem limits their capacity to open up to other people, express their sexuality, be the centre of attention, tolerate criticism, ask for help, solve problems… Perhaps they self-incriminate themselves or try to obtain perfection at any price, or perhaps they make excuses, or they can even reach the point where they turn to alcohol or drugs. When they do this, they do not realize that they can be damaging fundamental psychological structures that, literally, keep them alive.

Low self-esteem can be present in many psychological problems: in social phobia and in depression the difficulties in one's self-esteem tend to have a central importance and low academic and/or professional performance is also associated with a low self-esteem. The opinion that they have of their performance will influence in their self-evaluation and in their self-esteem. If the person believes that they are not worth anything, that they are not qualified, that they cannot reach any goal, then it is difficult for them to make the effort to reach it. On the opposite side, the well-known phenomenon of the "self-fulfilled prophecy" shows that the opinions that one has of oneself exert an important effect on the way one acts. The fact is that someone who is very confident of him/herself can perform or do much better than they expect they could, taking into account their age or capacity.

You may be reading these lines because you identify yourself with the descriptions of this problem. The following questions track the presence of some of the typical aspects, taking into account that this does not in any way substitute the process of evaluation carried out to establish a clinical diagnosis, but rather represents a first approach to and a preliminary exploration of the problem.

These questions are designed to evaluate the feeling of satisfaction that a person he/she about him/herself. If you also feel seriously unwell, or one of the areas of your life (leisure, work, academic, family, etc.) is being affected by this problem, it is possible that you have problems with self-esteem. But remember: this is only an approximation to the process of assessment that is necessary before initiating any treatment. If you think you might have this problem, consult a health care professional so that you can decide if you wish to receive treatment.