How Is Self-Esteem Affected By ADHD
ADHD, Featured | admin | November 27, 2009Self-esteem refers to a value that is all about having confidence and respect for oneself and accepting the fact that “I am as important as others in performing or achieving a task”. This does not mean that having a high self-esteem means being rude and having a feeling of being superior to others. It is the self-esteem that influences the manner in which we recognize ourselves among others and how much worthy do we feel about our achievements and character. Some people tend to have high self-esteem, while some have a low one.
If you have a high self-esteem, you know what are your strength and weak points and that you will never let the weaknesses overcome your strengths. As you know your strengths and weaknesses, you can plan to achieve your goals well.
If you have a low self-esteem, you will mostly feel that others are quite deserving and are better than what you are. In addition, you are not able to perceive your own weaknesses and strengths and do not have confidence to achieve your stated goals or face challenging situations. Further, you feel embarrassed when someone praise you and deliberately accept negative comments as that is what you feel for yourself too. Such symptoms indicate that you are undergoing from the state of inferiority complex wherein you do not like yourself, nor others like you.
ADHD Affecting Self-esteem
ADHD is the one of the major causes of low self-esteem in children, adolescents, and adults. Low self-esteem is the outcome of improper or no social skills and famous as a bad character in the minds of others. Criticism is one more factor that results in low self-esteem. This actually takes place due to the following reasons.
- Children suffering from ADHD feel difficult to make and maintain friendships.
- Such children act without any proper thinking and therefore, might seem to speak meaningless.
- They are short-tempered and might just burst on others.
- They might also damage the belongings of others.
- They might be bullying other children in fear of them being bullied.
Due to above behaviors, it is natural that such a child mostly faces ignorance, rejection, bullying. In adult life, this is not that common as among children, but rather it affects the relationships at family, workplace, and other social events. The causes or symptoms of low self-esteem that can create difficulties in relationships are:
- Feeling it tough to complete a task
- Disorganized way of handling things
- Poor socialization
Actually, ADHD starts right away in your childhood. As a child suffering from ADHD, you must have faced ignorance to such an extent that you have an in-depth feeling that you are good for nothing. This negative state further worsens in the adulthood state when you fail to get a job or do not obtain the desired project at a job.
Treating Low Self-esteem
Evaluating the patient’s self-esteem is one of the critical assessments while diagnosing ADHD. Listed below are the treatments for improving self-esteem that includes methods wherein the victim itself has to practice certain ways of thinking and acting.
- Medication
- Psychotherapy
- Cognitive therapy
- Behavior management strategies
- Assertiveness training courses
As a part of the treatment plan, the counselors and therapists suggest some ways of encouragement for differently perceiving yourself. Listed are some of these ways.
Inculcate innovative skills.- Improve skills that you possess.
- Try to give a thought on what unique you can do to bring about a positive change in yourself or in some another person.
- Learn to be concerned and always think about others to talk to them in a manner in which they feel worthy of themselves.
To track where the problem lies in your thinking, the counselor or therapist will ask you about the situations or events of your past wherein you thought negatively or might have lost confidence. The key of the treatment of low self-esteem is to perceive or look at things, situations, people, and life differently, actually in a positive way. Such a technique is referred to as reframing wherein you view everything with a different vision and understand each entity in a positive manner including yourself.
A plus point of this treatment’s success is improved condition of ADHD.
Assertiveness training courses are designed to recover the lost confidence and feel positive for yourself. You can obtain information on these training courses through the following mediums:
- Internet
- Library
- Education colleges in your residing region
Managing Criticisms
Low self-esteem simply means that you do not have confidence in your own abilities and capabilities. Whenever you face success, you tend to give its credit to luck or other senior or capable people involved with you.
When somebody criticizes you, because of low self-esteem, you simply are not embarrassed. Further, it acts as a support to your negative thinking about yourself. Criticism is a cause and boost for low self-esteem. Unfair criticisms, if any, will make you feel that the entire planet dislikes you.
Face criticisms in the following ways.
- Listen carefully when somebody says negative about you.
- On facing an unfair or unjust comment, you can raise an issue against it calmly with a proper explanation as to why you feel unfair. Role-play is an ideal option to practice this.
If you have low self-esteem and still go ahead to criticize others, just think on how you will feel it if you were the front person. So, to avoid criticisms for others:
- Be just
- Remain cool
- Accept the facts
- Avoid attacking on the front person’s character
- Speak politely even if you have to trace mistakes. For example say, “I worry if you do not come on time to catch the train”; instead of saying, “You are a late comer and do not value time.”
Do you know that you can make criticism a good medium for your child to improve his/her self-esteem? Yes! It just about the manner in which you speak and what words you use. For example, if your child finds it difficult to do a drawing, tell him/her – “I am happy that you are able to do much of the drawing. Tell me your problem and let’s think on its solution together”. This is a better approach rather than saying – “You cannot draw this much?”
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