A Student's thoughts of Facebook

I thought it was an interesting that people with low- self esteem always posted about negative events or feelings, just like they would in person. It seems that Facebook can even worsen someone's self esteem when posts are liked more then your own, or photos of an event that you were unable to attend show up. I can say I've had experience with this and I know I am not alone. When I post a status I post it for the purpose of getting attention, and recognition that someone understands me, or finds me funny, or approves, in any way, of what I have to say. of course you can say there are many benefits of reconnecting with old friends or family members, and facebook is an easy way to check up on people without picking up the phone or writing a letter. However, I think Facebook uses human nature that seeks approval, and it can make or break someone's self- esteem, affecting them in the long term.

 I'm a student at Judge Memorial Catholic High School in Salt Lake City, Utah

What I'd Tell My Younger Self

What I’d Tell My Younger Self About Body Image & Life

By Margarita Tartakovsky, MS

I’ve talked before about my sad body image as a teen. My negative body image was intertwined with my low self-esteem and shaky sense of self. (Clearly, a winning combination.)
Thankfully, many years later, I’ve learned a thing or two. And I’m in a much healthier place.
Here are the secrets I wish I could’ve shared with my teen self.

• Don’t try to look like everyone else. Don’t wish for the popular girl’s face or body. You’ve got your dad’s nose, and you look like your mom when you wear makeup. You couldn’t be luckier.  (On a side note, in junior high, feel free to wax the brows.)
• Spending time alone sometimes is OK. In fact, it can be fun. It’s an opportunity to get to know yourself better and curl up on the couch with a good book, TV show or activity.
• Don’t try so hard to fit in. In fact, don’t try at all. Just be yourself. The people who like you for you will stick around. The people who don’t, you don’t want to be “friends” with anyway.
• You don’t need to be super “pretty” or super skinny to deserve and command respect. Everyone deserves to be treated with love and compassion. If you’re not treated that way, it speaks more about the person doing the treating. You’re just fine.
• Boys don’t validate your existence. No one does. Try your best to find inner confidence. It’s a process, and it might take you longer than most. But that’s OK. Just stick it out.
• Don’t compare your inside to everyone else’s outside. Everyone struggles.
• Cherish your family – always. You won’t have as long as you think.
• Embrace your emotions. They’re just trying to give you another piece of information to make good decisions.
• You’re smart, and you work hard. Embrace that, too — and pat yourself on the back more often.
• Pay attention to your body. You deserve to take good care of it — always, not X pounds from now.
• Diets suck. Period.
• Don’t take grades, your looks, your clothes, your life so seriously.
• Keep writing those poems. In fact, keep writing in general. All that practice will come in handy someday.
• Read more books, and watch less TV.
• For the next few years, you’ll loathe your appetite, and watch what you eat like a hawk. You’ll feel incredibly guilty after some meals, and you’ll restrict others. Know that there’s nothing wrong with enjoying food. Know that you can savor your dessert without shame. Know that dieting leads to overeating. And overeating won’t make you happy. Find healthier ways to cope with stress. And have some compassion for yourself.
• Don’t buy women’s magazines. Get writing magazines, instead.
• It’s understandable why you hate exercise. You view it as a weight-loss tool, chore or punishment. Your body was meant to move. And even though you think you don’t have an athletic bone in your body, you were also meant to practice Pilates, ride your bike and even squat over 100 pounds. (The 100 pounds thing will only last a few months thanks to your great trainer in Texas, but the point is you’re really strong. Never forget that.)
• Embrace your paleness. It’s just another part that makes you you. Plus, there’s no doubt about it: Tanned skin is damaged skin.
• Fretting about bikini season is not worth your time. If you have time on your hands, try any of these things.
• Your weight doesn’t dictate your worth. In fact, you don’t have to do anything to be worthy. You just are.

Why Facebook Doesn't Help Boost Low Self-Esteem

by Leslie Meredith

27 March 2012 04:04 PM ET

SHARE

CREDIT: Sander van der Wel View full size image

In theory, Facebook should be great for people with low self-esteem to improve their friendships. No awkward silences, no weird looks.  But a new study found that people with low self-esteem shoot themselves in the foot. That same negativity that turns people off in real life had the same effect online.

“We had this idea that Facebook could be a really fantastic place for people to strengthen their relationships,” said Amanda Forest, a graduate student at the University of Waterloo who co-authored the study with her adviser, Joanne Wood. They published their findings in the journal Psychological Science. People with low self-esteem are often uncomfortable sharing face-to-face, but Facebook  makes it possible to share remotely, Forest said. 

The pair used 10 coders — undergraduate Facebook users — to rate the last 10 Facebook updates from 177 student volunteers who had taken a psychological test to determine their levels of self-esteem. Those on the low end of the scale bombarded their friends with negative tidbits about their lives — a class was too hard, their schedules sucked — while kids with high self-esteem posted overwhelmingly positive comments.

When the coders were asked how much they liked each participant, it was no surprise that the constant complainers weren't liked much at all.

Forest said that people with low self-esteem may feel safe making personal disclosures on Facebook  – but they may not be helping themselves.

“If you’re talking to somebody in person and you say something, you might get some indication that they don’t like it, that they’re sick of hearing your negativity,” Forest said. These social cues could prompt people to change their behavior. But on Facebook, negativity is usually met with silence — people don't comment.

But not always. Post something out of character on Facebook — positive or negative — and friends respond.

When highly positive people made the occasional negative post, their friends responded in greater numbers. The same held true for naysaysers — say something good, and Facebook friends  talked back.

 Article source: http://www.technewsdaily.com/4032-facebook-boost-esteem.html

Running can help those with low self esteem

By Judy Mick

Everyone knows how good running is for you physically. But running has also been found to help people with low self-esteem. Low self-esteem is found in people who are overall negative about life, feel that they have no goals, are usually depressed and just generally has an overall low opinion of themselves. Beginning a running program can help people to get over these feelings.
This happens when they first become a runner and start losing weight and getting their body in shape. Many people who are overweight do suffer from low self-esteem. As they start running and losing weight, they start feeling better about themselves. And, when you feel good about yourself, it builds your self-esteem.
Also, when they start getting their body weight down and getting in shape, they gain confidence that they may not have had before.
This confidence is also happens when runners have a goal and work hard until they achieve it. This can be as simple as running a mile without stopping – or completing in their first 5K road race. They had a goal and met the goal. And, the wonderful thing is that this newfound confidence will flow into other areas of their life.
Running also makes people get out the door and focus on something other than themselves and their problems. Do you know anyone who just sits around and complains about all that is wrong with their lives? Running helps them get over these depressing mindsets.
It also gives them a distraction from worrying about the future and everything that is wrong in their lives and the world. Having a focus on their running and their running goals helps them to be able to function better in life and to get over their depression.
People with low self-esteem are usually not as happy overall as those with high self-esteem. Runners (due to those wonderful endorphins that are released when you run) are generally always happy and in a good mood.
As you can see there are many ways that running helps those that are suffering from low self-esteem. From feeling better about their body – to accomplishing goals that they set for themselves – to the overall general positiveness comes as a byproduct of running, low self-esteem doesn’t have a chance to stick around.
So, if you know of someone who is suffering from low self-esteem – or maybe you are yourself – get a running program started. See the difference it makes!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Judy_Mick
http://EzineArticles.com/?Running-Tips—Helping-Those-With-Low-Self-Esteem&id=6956599

People with low self-esteem might censor what they’re saying

Posting on Facebook is an easy way to connect with people, but it also can be a means to alienate them. That can be particularly troublesome for those with low self-esteem.
People with poor self-image tend to view the glass as half empty. They complain a bit more than everyone else, and they often share their negative views and feelings when face to face with friends and acquaintances.
Researchers at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, wondered whether those behavior patterns would hold true online. They published their findings in the journal Psychological Science.
“People with low self-esteem tend to be very cautious and self-protective,” says one of the researchers, psychologist Amanda L. Forest. “It’s very important to them to gain others’ acceptance and approval. … So given that, we thought people with low self-esteem might censor what they’re saying to present a kind of positive and likable self-image on Facebook.”

Association for Physcological Science

Panic & anxiety - our inbuilt responses to danger.

Panic and anxiety are our inbuilt responses to danger and are probably the main reasons we, the human race, have been able to survive and evolve. Without such a mechanism it is most likely that we would have ignored signs of danger and been killed.

However these life saving responses can at times get out of control and result in what we term as panic or anxiety attacks

Panic attacks are scary as they overwhelm us with a sudden surge of irrational fear. There is no time to prepare for the panic attack symptoms as we receive no prior warning. These intense feelings of panic can arise for no obvious fear.

As much as these are part of our ingrained response to fighting for survival or fleeing uncontrollable danger, these become symptoms of panic when this reaction arises for no known dangers or circumstances. Panic attack symptoms may come into existence in situations that seem to be harmless to an outside observer. A person who has panic attack disorder will manifest this complaint even in the throes of deep sleep.

As traumatic as they seem it is possible to bring these life saving responses back under control and banish the problem for ever.

www.themindtalks.com/lm

You are NOT ILL - Physically nor Mentally

IF YOU SUFFER FROM ANY ANXIETY DISORDER YOU ARE NOT ILL!

Not physically, not mentally!

I guarantee this to you no matter what you may have been told before!

I will also show you that you can quickly and permanently reverse the formation of panic attacks, OCD, Agoraphobia and Phobias.

How? By forcing the body's natural anxiety reduction process to happen.

Leave a comment if you want to learn more.