Have you ever really had low self esteem? I can't really say for sure. Obviously I have SOME self esteem, I've told by others that I "worry too much about what others think" so I'm going to say that I DO at times have low self esteem. I don't believe I always have it though. What about you?

There have been plenty of times in my life where I doubted myself or worried about what other people would think. I've changed a lot over the years and it's a lot less frequent. Especially since I've started noticing that other people tend to struggle with the same things as me. Watching other people get nervous when speaking in front of a class helped me be a lot more confident, as weird as that may seem.

I'm generally a pretty confident person. I believe in my strengths and I'm aware of and accept my weaknesses.

I don't really let what other people think of me affect me. They're just jealous of my hot body.

Only all the time.

I may have swagger on here, and appear confident, but in reality I'm just as lost and confused as everybody else.

Yeah, it's kind of funny. I seem like this underconfident kid that is all naive and whatnot, but whenever somebody tries to confront me and talk a lot of junk, I'm usually able to have the "bigger mouth" and I end up being left alone (in other words, I diss them and make them feel like idiots).

I think I have pretty low self-esteem most of the time.

I'm generally not very confident in most things that I do, but I suppose I've just got to get on with it.

This is going to sound a little cheesy, but since I joined Vizzed, I think I'm starting to get a little more confidence. This is the first forum type site I've actually been on where I've made an effort to say something every day, and it does help, as the people on here are quite nice and there hasn't been any drama so far. 

Well it doesn't happen a lot, it only occurs when I have bad days like tonight......

I think most people have low self esteem.  We live in a society which pushes perfection and popularity.  If we weren't so pressured to be perfect, we wouldn't be so hard on ourselves about our mistakes.

I've always had low self esteem, though it's most likely not apparent to those that meet me in real life.  Even as secluded from media as I was, I was still infected by the need to be perfect, and always being super conscious of what other people around me thought of me.

Yes, at times I have very low self-esteem. Long story as to why and I won't go into it in this thread. But I honestly think everyone has it at some point in their lives. And for different reasons.

Usually I can pass it off, but there are times when I feel like my self esteem level just decreases faster and faster. But I think it happens to all of us from time to time. Sometimes this really depresses me though, and I feel like I'm no good at all. And it really sucks because no matter what it seems like it is impossible for me to even be cheered up, oh my God do you guys think I have some form of depression?

 I think everybody has low self esteem at some point in their lives. It's a part of life and you have to either get through and rise above the challenge or let it consume you. Most people would try to avoid the latter but some people seem to like just being depressed and all. Although it  is a different story if you genetically suffer from some form of depression. 

catfight09 : Well one thing that I know for sure is I do have bouts of anxiety and worry endlessly about everything. I don’t know if that qualifies as low self-esteem but it is something that I deal with on a daily basis it seems. Even on days where it doesn’t seem like much is going on I always have something on my mind and am almost always thinking or worrying about something.

One thing that I worry about is because I made a lot of mistakes in my teen years, dropped out of school, wasn’t the best or most honest person and such that even all these years later that I will be defined by that period of my life.

It has been many years since that period of my life and I have straightened out and have done some good things as a writer. It does worry me though that because I went through that rough period and even though I admit that I wasn’t the best person back then and was wrong in almost all my decisions back then, that some may have resentment toward me. It really bothers me. As I’ve said several times, I am grateful that I got my wake-up call but wish that it didn’t take me until I was in my early 20’s to get the wake-up call. I would have saved myself so much grief and regret. I wonder sometimes beyond what I already know is what happened that once I became a teenager everything pretty much went downhill but before that I was okay and was okay for the most part after I dropped out beyond my immaturity and mistakes. Since I got my wake-up call I have matured and realized the errors of my ways. There are times where I honestly sit and wonder who I was back then because it’s a person I really don’t like. The person I am now really feels bad if he raises his voice to someone much less anything more serious.

The one thing I ask God for everyday is for peace. It’s been many years since I’ve seen many of the people I went to school with and have become a hermit who keeps to himself for the most part beyond my writing and worries about his family. The one thing I hope is no one has any anger toward me and that any damage that I may have caused back then is forgiven. I know that things have not been easy for me or my family over the years and I think that helped me mature a great deal. I make no excuses about that stage of my life, I just hope that I will get to a place sometime where I will be able to forgive myself and be able to put it behind me finally. One thing I try to do to make a mends is to offer advice to people and hope that by sharing my experiences that it helps people.

I am not sure if that qualifies as low self-esteem but it probably does qualify for anxiety.

Almost every day in the past eight years actually. Come to think of it, I never felt important.

Banana_Fighter123 : I feel compelled to respone to your comment.

You ARE important. You are important to your mom, your dad, your siblings (if you have any), your grandparents, your teachers, and your friends. The fact that you are alive today shows that you are important and your of value to someone. Now I know sometimes people might not tell or show you that you are important; but trust me they will show you that you are important at some point maybe not today, maybe not tomarrow (wow second time I used that Casablanca quote), but someday someone will show you that your important to them.

Don't feel discouraged!!

In elementary school and middle school, I had truly hated myself. I really did not defend myself from other people, mainly taking to ignoring them. Only sometimes did I actually defend myself verbally (never had a fight at school), and that was mainly my mind saying, "They don't know who I am, only I do." I beat up on myself in my mind all the time, saying how stupid a decision was, or how I should handle something.

In high school, my self confidence got better. I still had some self loathing, but I still knew I was capable of doing whatever as long as I put my mind to it. The people around me were also maturing a little better, so that probably helped some. My confidence still fell at times, but after some analyzing situations, I usually got better.

Today, I do not let people push me around, which can make me come off as a bit of a hot head. I rather seem like a hot head then regress into what I felt when I was younger. I do sugar coat my words at times if the situation warrants it or I do not wish to cause a scene. Like when I was applying for a job one time, I was considered late for my interview because a secretary misheard me on the phone. I kept politely trying to explain myself, but she kept giving me attitude. I was very very close to just telling her eff her job and walking out, but luckily someone intervened and gave me the interview anyway, even though I was technically "late." Still steams me up today!

I still question myself often, but I get myself to regret less often. It requires some arguing with myself since my old self-hatred still likes to show up, but I know I can overpower it now.