Low Self-Esteem

If you struggle with low self-esteem that negatively interferes with your quality of life and relationships, see the experts at Rappore, a telehealth-based mental health practice headquartered in Manhattan, New York. Their licensed clinicians help patients in multiple states, including New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Florida, Maryland, and Texas. Their experienced team offers medication management and therapy services via telehealth to help you cope with low self-esteem and any of the complications associated with it.

Many people criticize themselves, question their self-worth, and see themselves as inferior to their peers. They may be extremely sensitive to perceived criticism. Low self-esteem can undermine relationships, prevent people from taking the risk needed to try new ventures, and in addition, may trigger anxiety and depression. There are many causes of low self-esteem but the most sinister is social media.

All it takes is five minutes on Facebook or Instagram to remind yourself that your friends (and enemies) are doing better than you — that they’re more attractive, more successful, and have much better taste than you. But it isn’t just looking at other people online: the process of joining an online community and vying for likes invites you to manipulate images of yourself — and, by extension, your self-image. If you go to post a selfie on Instagram, they immediately ask you if you want to use a filter. As if the way you actually look in real life isn’t good enough. We chase after likes — after approval from our peers — but even if we get that kind of positive feedback it rings hollow because we know the version of ourselves that we present to the world online is so carefully manicured, with all the rough edges photoshopped away. The version of ourselves people like — the best version of ourselves — has been run through a filter. 

What does it say when that version of an individual is far more popular than the real person behind it? What effect does it have on our self-esteem, when we have such ample evidence that we are not the best versions of ourselves — when our best selves are located somewhere in the digital ether? And how does it make us feel when, after we’ve finally buffed every imperfection from our selfies and posted them online, we still have to deal with trolls— people who make themselves feel better by criticizing others?.

It’s no wonder then that there’s an inverse relationship between the amount of time people spend online and the amount of self-esteem they have.

Rappore therapists choose among many approaches including CBT, Assertiveness Training and Positive Psychology to determine your best treatment plan.