Lack of public speaking confidence, whether with peers or strangers, is considered a social anxiety disorder. There's more people that don't want to be front and centre sharing their expertise and vision than those that do. Across the spectrum glossophobia touches 73% of the population.
Stress and difficult life events, such as serious illness or a bereavement, can have a negative effect on self-esteem. Personality can also play a part. Some people are just more prone to negative thinking, while others set impossibly high standards for themselves.
As you advance in years, you may tend to lose confidence as you experience changes in your body and face health issues. Losing your self-confidence can also result from life-altering events such as retirement and loss of people you love. Losing confidence in your abilities can make you less active and more withdrawn.
Causes of low self-esteem may stem from childhood. If a person does not receive love, affection, and positive interactions in childhood, they may lack a sense of worth or inner value. If people grow up experiencing a high level of pain or hurt, this may have a negative effect on their self-esteem.
Studies have shown that self-esteem reaches a peak in one's 50s or 60s, and then sharply drops in old age (4–7). This is a characteristic change, so it is important to reveal about when self-esteem peaks across the life span.
Challenging and reversing irrational beliefs about yourself takes time, effort, discipline, and practice. The process of building self-esteem can take years for some people. That's completely normal. So don't be disheartened if you struggle in this process and fall back into negative ways of thinking along the way.
Self-esteem first begins to rise between ages 4 and 11, as children develop socially and cognitively and gain some sense of independence. Levels then seem to plateau — but not decline — as the teenage years begin from ages 11 to 15, the data show.
What are 4 characteristics of a person who has low self-esteem?
Low self-esteem is when someone lacks confidence about who they are and what they can do. They often feel incompetent, unloved, or inadequate. People who struggle with low self-esteem are consistently afraid about making mistakes or letting other people down.
All of our insecurities can come from a lack of self-esteem. They stem from our self-talk revolving around negative thoughts, like self-doubt and questions about our self-image. We often feel insecure when we don't value our well-being and practice self-care.
The study also found that the younger the generation bracket, the earlier the insecurities. While the average American recalls those feelings first striking around age 13 or 14, it's actually the teens who are currently aged 13 to 17 who recall feeling anxiety about their looks around age nine or 10.
Absolutely not! Nobody is born confident. Confidence is something you develop as you go through life and as you put yourself in new situations or new environments. When you see others who ooze confidence, they weren't born that way.
