Low self-esteem makes us feel bad about ourselves. But did you know that over time it also can cause the development of serious mental conditions such as depression?

 

自卑让人自我感觉极差。你知道吗，长期自卑会导致抑郁等严重的精神问题。

 

Self-esteem is, very simply, the set of feelings you have about yourself. It's developed by your experiences, thoughts, feelings, and relationships.

 

Unlike self-knowledge, which refers to how much you know about yourself, the core of self-esteem is formed around whether you like yourself or not. 

 

Depression is much more than just feeling sad. It saps your energy, makes everyday activities difficult and interferes¹ with your eating and sleeping patterns. Psychotherapy and/or medication are highly effective in treating depression. 

 

There are several types of depressive disorders³, including major depression, persistent⁴ depressive disorder², psychotic depression, postpartum depression, and seasonal⁵ affective disorder (SAD). 

 

Clinicians use low self-esteem as one possible symptom when they diagnose the psychiatric condition of major depressive disorder. They don't necessarily care whether low self-esteem causes the depression or vice⁶ versa.

 

However, personality researchers have long wondered about the chicken-and-egg problem of self-esteem and depression. Certainly, if you dislike yourself, you'll be more likely to be depressed⁷. Conversely, if you're depressed, you'll be more likely to feel bad about who you are as a person.

 

The only way to disentangle the highly related concepts of self-esteem and depression is through longitudinal research, in which people are followed up over time. A study on depression, conducted by University of Basel researchers Julia Sowislo and Ulrich Orth, contrasted the competing directions of self-esteem to depression vs depression to self-esteem.

 

The findings almost all overwhelmingly support the vulnerability model of self-esteem and depression. Over time, low self-esteem is a risk factor for depression, regardless of who is tested and how. The study indicated that low self-esteem causes depression but not vice versa.

 

Therefore, if a person has low self-esteem, there's an increased risk of developing depression. This is a very important discovery because it shows that improving a person's self-esteem can make him or her feel better.

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