Self Esteem, Depression and Stress! How to Raise Your Self Esteem and Minimize Your Stress

In today's world there is more depression than ever before, there is more anxiety along with unparalleled level of stress. If you've got low self esteem to begin with then you're a prime candidate for misery and possibly an early grave.

Have you noticed yourself catching more colds and flu's then you ever have in the past? Well, as hard to believe as it may be, the reason could likely be stress. It weakens your entire system and that includes your immune system.

Cortisol, a steroid hormone produced by the adrenal gland, is the substance that your body creates as a direct result of stress. In limited small quantities cortisol is not a big deal but in sustained doses it suppresses the immune system thus making you susceptible to all sorts of illnesses.

Cortisol other functions are to increase blood sugar through gluconeogenesis, suppress the immune system, aid in fat, protein, and carbohydrate metabolism. It also decreases bone formation leading to all sorts of other health problems.

If you've had low self esteem (a form of stress in itself) since High School and now you find yourself in a job that can only be described as a toxic. Then it is likely that your cortisol exposure levels are quite high. As you are exposed to negative stress, day in and day out, sometimes for many years then you've had prolonged exposure to cortisol.

Honestly, you need to do something about your low self image and low self esteem because if you don't, you're likely to continue getting sick until stress finally kills you.

Luckily, there are things you can do right now to counteract all these negatives that are taking such a toll on you. Some of these things will be easier to implement than others but implementing even one or two of them can make a dramatic difference in your quality of life.

Do you work in a negative work environment? If you work in a job of high stress, filled with "dog eat dog" unappreciative people then this may not be the place for you. The "dog eat dog" Type-A personalities may very well thrive in an environment where missed lunch breaks, missed dinners and extra long work days are the norm. An environment where nobody even takes notice that you've missed both lunch and dinner and worked till long after quitting time may work for them but it is pure poison to you. It may be time to consider a change in employment, even if it means a cut in pay. What you lose in money you will more than make up for in a healthier and happier life.

Changing jobs can be stressful but changes of this nature challenge your adaptability and alters your thinking patterns. It may be difficult and stressful in the beginning but in the long run it will help you improve yourself. Remember, the world is not static, it is a constantly changing and evolving place and by doing something like changing jobs can give you the confidence that you will be able to survive and adapt to any changes that life may throw at you. Realizing that you are able to adapt and conquer will raise your self esteem and overall emotional and psychological state.

Are you a "News Junkie"? If you are and you've already got the aforementioned issues with self esteem then you might want to consider weaning yourself off from the 24 hour news networks. It's important to realize that these networks are in the business of making money and a very long time ago they realized that reporting on disasters and catastrophes boosts their ratings.

If you're exposed non-stop to the pure negativity spewing from these networks then it's going to have a very negative effect on you. Actually, watching too much cable news will have a negative effect on most people. Constantly being bombarded by images and information about suffering, murder, natural disasters and corrupt politicians is, without doubt, going to skew your view of the world and trick you into believing that nothing positive ever happens in the world. You'll start thinking that everything is futile and any effort to change the world is a lost cause.

The fact is that the world might have many things wrong with it but it is not as bad as your altered world view would have you believe. There are more good things happening in the world then bad but it's very difficult to sensationalize positive news stories and so the networks focus entirely on negativity.

You need to start limiting the amount of cable news that you watch every day. Watch for an hour or two at most and then change the channel. There's a whole world of programming out there so pick something entertaining and enjoy yourself for a change. Your nervous system will thank you.

Are the people you're around negative? Are they gossip-mongers, complainers, untrustworthy, backstabbers, rage-alcoholics, bleeding hearts, perpetually persecuted (in their own minds), control freaks, always nagging, patronizing and brown nosers?

If so then be aware that these people are toxic to you and your well being and self esteem. Now I understand that many of these personalities I just described may well be members of your family.

I'm not going to tell you to cut ties with family and friends but what I do suggest is that you limit your exposure to their negativity. Absolutely, positively, under no circumstances should you ever allow yourself to be drawn into other peoples drama.

Try to balance things out by finding places where you can find positive people. Join a book club, find people who share your interests and passions on meetup.com and start enjoying the positive elements of the population.

Finally, learn to let things go and stop punishing yourself for the past. It's one thing to cry out when you get hurt but don't let it turn into a debilitating boil that festers. It's important to learn how to leave the past in the past because if you don't, your past will nag at you until it finally eats you alive.

You deserve to be happy, everybody does. We all have different ideas of what happiness is for us and your homework assignment is to figure out what your idea of happiness is. Once you've figured that out, go forth and conquer. You can do it and a happy life is always within your reach if you allow yourself to reach out and grab it.