Anxiety can show itself on many levels. Physically, it can make your hands shake, heart race and face flush. Emotionally, it can make you nervous, weary and even sad. Mentally, it can cause you to think in circles, worry excessively and question your sanity. When you feel uncertain about your place in the world and what to expect, it makes sense that the way you feel about yourself will also start to feel uncertain. Anxiety can affect self-esteem in several ways.
Questioning Yourself
Feeling anxious sometimes feels like you don't have any control over yourself and the world. You might ask questions such as: "What's wrong with me?" and "Why can't I be like everyone else?" Critical self-talk often leads to low self-esteem. Feeling powerless and worthless will make it harder to cope effectively with stressors, which will then feed into the idea that you are powerless and worthless. This can turn into a vicious cycle.
Feelings Seem Like Facts
When people struggle with emotional stress, they may start to believe that their feelings are facts. If you feel anxious about something, you might conclude there is a reason to feel anxious about it. For example, if you have to give a presentation at work and just thinking about it leaves you in a cold sweat, you might start to think, "I must be nervous because I am going to do a terrible job."
Mind-Reading
Often, negative thinking is at the root of people's anxiety. An example of a type of negative thinking is called mind-reading. Mind-reading is when people assume that they know what others might be thinking about them. For example, your boss might be having a bad day completely unrelated to you or your work. When you try to approach her to discuss a work assignment, she seems distracted. If you are mind-reading, you might think that she is behaving this way because of some negative thought or feeling toward you, when in fact, her behavior has nothing to do with how she feels about you.
References
- "Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy"; David D. Burns, M.D.; 1992
- "The Anxiety and Phobia Workbook"; Edmund J. Bourne, Ph.D.: 1995
