Throughout our lives, we are psychologically formed by our experience. All of our old and familiar experiences have shaped the way we see ourselves and the world around us.

Temperatures are rising, while self-esteem dips to new lows. The sad truth is that, in peeling off the layers of our wintry wardrobes, we expose ourselves to a whole new world of self-critical thoughts.

By Rick Nauert, Ph.D. PsychCentral Scientists believe a coping strategy for people with low self-esteem is to degrade other people, which improves h...

Most people have two lives: the life we live on a daily basis and the unlived life within us.

QUESTION Dear Irene, I have a group of girlfriends, basically six of us, who've known each other since high school. Anyway, I got very close with th...

Survival strategies are based on a child's observation of what it takes to feel good about herself, to be important, to be worthwhile, or to be able to deal with life in spite of negative self-esteem beliefs.

Success comes when we understand that boosting our self image results not only from caring for ourselves, but from making changes in the way we think about beauty.

Women have been sold on the idea the perfect body. Mass marketing has created an image of perfection, and sold women on the idea that if they diet, or buy a product they will achieve the ideal.

It was clear from the beginning that no one would ever invite me to dance during those humiliating Saturday afternoons.

I couldn't handle seeing affection between men without feeling extreme lack, jealousy and envy. All it did was make me want whatever they had right now! The only way I knew to get it, and fast, was through sex.

Our society, founded on the Protestant work ethic, seems to think the Impossible Workload is just peachy keen and even necessary for success. People get more strokes for achievement than for being happy.

There is one specific belief that anyone with this problem almost certainly has: "What makes me good enough is having people think well of me."

Almost all of our self-esteem beliefs are formed in the first six years of life as the result of interactions we have with our primary caretakers, almost always our parents.

It is an almost universal sentiment that the chronically late friend can irritate even those of us who are good natured and patient.

In our ongoing quest for healthy friendships, those in which we feel appreciated, understood and where trust is at a premium, the misery lover's modus...

Few of us have the courage to distance ourselves from a popular mean girl and suffer the consequences, even if we feel that we've been mistreated.

These aren't our mothers' friendships, where women were hesitant to disclose unhappiness or weakness. Female friendships today are filled with expectations -- the sense that "we're all in it together."

My friend broke up with her first serious boyfriend about a year ago. She still spends most of her time with him and his family but they all take advantage of her. Is there something that can help her see what's going on?

We must help undo the damage done by impossibly high academic standards, media portrayals of unrealistic bodies, and other factors that make young women feel like they don't measure up.

Event losers tend to care more about what other people think of them than they do about taking good care of themselves on a regular basis. This is a symptom of low self-esteem.