Words of mouth can be extremely powerful. Words’ power to hurt or heal is a fact of life that everyone experiences in one form or another. How we react to words often is a byproduct of how we were raised to handle them and the tools those in our lives taught us. The older we get, the more aware we become of just how important words are in shaping and informing who we are and how we present to the world, in general.
Everybody has crossed the line of self-deprecation at a time. As much as most people use it to unmask low self-esteem or for attention seeking, many of us are afraid of taking self-deprecation too far. Sometimes, people use self-deprecation as humor until they realize how it comes in between their emotions and daily interactions with others.
Positive vs. Negative Thinking
Several studies have shown that being optimistic or pessimistic affects your general health and well-being. According to Jo Emerson, a famous confidence coach, if one uses self-deprecation to get compliments, there are healthier ways to do so. Self-deprecation is the tendency to undervalue oneself. It’s not necessary for a person who wants to feel confident, secure, and in control of their life.
Though there are numerous underlying causes and effects of self-deprecation, there are ways to adapt to healthier habits. The following are tools on how to stop self-deprecating habits and feel self-empowered with healthier alternatives.
Don’t Put Yourself Down
A self-deprecating sense of humor shows your low self-esteem. Negative self-talk can easily lead to self-criticism and low self-acceptance. If you’re always hard on yourself, it’s only natural that it will be more difficult to be satisfied and maintain a healthy way of thinking.
Enough negative thinking might even lead to depression or other mental health struggles. Generally, you may feel sorry, insecure, doubtful, and less happy. Such habits can damage a person’s self-esteem and emotional health over time.
If you rely on self-depreciative language and thoughts, long-term consequences can be associated with this behavior. Perhaps, you won’t be able to receive a compliment. That’s because compliments make you feel uncomfortable, thus causing panic and fear.
Most people with low self-esteem struggle with compliments, which contradicts their inner communication and self-conception. Other long-term consequences are that jokes will fall flat, you will believe in the punchlines, and your deprecation will be a reflex.
Self-Deprication and Self-Esteem
As an underlying cause of self-deprecation, self-esteem affects both men and women. Though women are often associated with low self-esteem, many men are also vulnerable to it. For instance, rather than finding eyeglasses that meet their personal facial features and shape, they will go for oversized glasses that may appear unnatural, thus lowering their social esteem.
What you wear and how you wear it can have significant impacts on how you feel about yourself. Fortunately, there are various glasses frames for women that emphasize accessibility and accommodating different sizing needs and comfort preferences.
According to the hierarchy of needs by psychologist Abraham Maslow, self-esteem is a basic human motivation that individuals need; their inner self-respect and appreciation from others build esteem. Other factors affecting self-esteem include age, genetics, illness, socioeconomic status, disability, and physical abilities.
Building Up, Not Down
To eradicate self-deprecating habits, you must first understand you suffer from low self-esteem, which may take some time to recover from. If you start appreciating compliments by saying thank you, you will get used to it with time.
Many women want to look good, like anyone else, that could be synonymous with appearing younger, and they believe some eyeglasses are designed for them. There are glasses available to address a wide range of looks, but it’s not the time to question them. It is important to always make an effort to stay optimistic. To build yourself up, not down, here are some tips.
- Identify goals and pursue them regardless of what others may think about those pursuits.
- Reverse thinking that is negative and recalibrate it into something positive, or practice avoidance thinking for negative thought patterns or cycles.
- Decide on personal values that are empowering, not discouraging, or may bring on negative thinking or opinions.
- Make an effort to feel good about yourself through how your style of dress, body positivity, etc.
- Avoid comparisons to others; take life at your own pace and in your own way/journey.
The Journey Is Yours To Decide
If you’re pessimistic, with practice, you will regain your esteem. Your inner dialogue will have more self-acceptance and less criticism. Self-empowerment will help your well-being. And once you stop using those self-deprecating words, everything gets much easier over time.
