by Jami Wright

Created on: June 21, 2009   Last Updated: June 30, 2009

Self esteem plays a large part in dating and relationships. Self esteem is simply the way you see and feel about yourself. If you have a low self esteem you don't have a high opinion of yourself. You generally harbor negative thoughts about you and you do not feel that you measure up to other people. This negative internal negative feeling can impact you in all areas of your life, including dating and relationships.

People who suffer from low self esteem believe it is a silent illness. They don't think others can see their suffering. They internalize these feelings and in the process begin to believe solidly in the negative thoughts.

The problem is that low self esteem is generally very visible to other people; some obvious symptoms of low self esteem are; lack of confidence, feeling unworthy usually seen in slouching, covering oneself up, not speaking unless directly spoken to, and allowing others to control them. If you have two people that are similar in looks, age, height and weight, but one has a low self esteem and one is confident you will easily see the differences between the two.

Both men and women can suffer from low self esteem, this condition does not discriminate between the sexes. Skinny, overweight, pretty, mousy there are no physical characteristics that this condition targets. It lives inside a persons perception of themselves. In their minds and is born of past influences that cause a person to think negatively of themselves.

This condition can eat away at the core of who a person is and can replace low self esteem with a new condition called self loathing. As a person travels down the bumpy lonely road of low self esteem they will continue to get worse. Their relationships deteriorate and the choices in partners get more controlling and possibly abusive. People have been known to slip into depression and sometimes have suicidal tendencies. These factors are long term effects but reasons to start working on building your self esteem and confidence today.

Here are some great ways to help build up a person's self esteem. If your self esteem is so low that it is causing you push people away from your life completely and sink into chronic or acute depression; you will want to consider seeking professional help. These exercises will help you improve your dating by improving your own self esteem.

Try journaling daily:

Start a journal on your computer or in a notebook. Start by simply writing

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