Accepting oneself is a daily challenge in a society of image and performance. It is also a challenge to take your place when wrinkles, skin color, weight, level of education, financial situation get in the way. Self-esteem is one of the recognized protective factors in mental health and it develops in environments that are favorable to it.
Social media can easily hinder our ability to accept ourselves with our limitations and strengths. These platforms highlight increasingly polarized opinions and often unrealistic image standards, creating an environment where it is easy to feel judged and inadequate and to adopt very harsh and self-critical behavior towards us.
Recently in Quebec, more than 80 elected officials resigned, many artists and journalists took breaks from the public scene and several young people were injured because they are exposed daily to a flood of violent words.
Imagine the pain felt when these violent words come from family, colleagues, those we thought were our allies.
Roy Baumeister, a researcher at Florida State University, points out that initially, studies made associations between good self-esteem and better academic performance, a lower risk of unwanted pregnancies, unemployment or drug dependence. But in fact, low self-esteem results from these difficulties, it is not the cause.
If we continue with Roy Baumeister’s words, we must put in place favorable conditions for the development of self-esteem. It is a precious heritage to offer ourselves collectively. This heritage gives us confidence in our means and our ability to face life’s difficulties. It allows us to believe that we have the right to moments of happiness, the right to say yes and to say no. Certainly, self-acceptance is not a linear process. There are days when you can feel strong and confident and others when you feel assailed by doubt. Having self-esteem does not mean not doubting, not being afraid, not making mistakes, being exceptional. It’s knowing that you have value. It is understanding that we deserve to be respected. It is a pillar on which our choices, our relationships and our achievements rest.
Be yourself together
As part of its annual mental health promotion campaign “Accepting yourself means being yourself, together”, the Mouvement Santé Mentale Québec is proposing that in 2024-2025, we together support the development of self-esteem. self. Together, let’s develop awareness of gestures, behaviors, words, policies that recognize others. So, what will be your next step to contribute?
- Have and provide the necessary resources to develop skills and competencies;
- support efforts, the power to act and recognize successes;
- consider that the right to make mistakes belongs to everyone and normalize it;
- refuse stigmatizing, degrading, discriminating comments;
- develop the courage necessary to make criticisms eye to eye, accept reactions and learn to do so without destroying others;
- remember individually and collectively that the images published on social networks only represent a tiny part of reality and feel that we exist outside of the gaze of others.
The Mouvement Santé Mentale Québec and its member organizations want a society that promotes the development and maintenance of self-esteem and inclusion. He wants us to take care of each “I” to form a united “big us” and to allow each and every person to be themselves, together.
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reference: www.lapresse.ca