I’m pretty much on my own most of the time with no friends, I am out of work on benefit, I suffer hallucinations, am overweight and have low self esteem. How about you?
That sounded exactly like me a year ago, but my self esteem atm is very high. I’m feeling very optimistic about 2016. Keep exercising, learning and improving yourself to boost your self esteem!
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Controlling consumption and buying little things to improve the feel and functionality of my life… electronics and furniture and stuff… LED light bulbs to cut down the electricity bill.
Learning has a lot of gratitude… just living with this illness is an accomplishment…
You are a warrior sir/mam… stick with us… you only live once and we all love you.
You could try crochet or some other craft…
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I think the more contact you have with medical people when you’re stable, the better your self esteem. See if you can get a social worker / nurse to keep in regular contact with you. They can help.
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I remember what I am up against as far as stigma and self-stigma are concerned. We shouldn’t let our self esteem depend on what other people think of us and say to us. We need our own inner approval. Know your limitations.
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Exercise. Take pills.
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I’m the same as you, though my hallucinations are controlled by my medication. One thing that helps me with my self esteem is staying fairly current on the news. Also, I read a book occasionally, and I dabble at writing. I’m going to start to send stuff off before too long.
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( 
man, who cares about society’s expectations? You are the only one who is ultimately there for yourself.)
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staying engaged is key. exercise, hobbies, volunteer work, house chores all contain within it the ability to regulate your esteem. for me, I do all of the above (except chores 
) and it keeps my mind busy and away from all the smaller issues that keep me in the dumps. start small: take a walk, write a page of how you are feeling, read a self help book. take a small step and remember to keep track what works for you.
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I know that God adores me. And since God adores me, I adore myself.
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Dreams. Dreams teach me a lot about my self-worth. I say & do things that are completely compromising of my Earthly character, but I can’t believe I do them - I love my “true self”. The things I stand up for & the way I behave is simply impressive. In dreams I am far more brave & don’t take any ■■■■ from anyone. I get things done and have a blast exploring the world.
I have also survived a lot of pain in the dream world. This bolsters my confidence a lot - having stood up to demon after demon and thought after thought, conquering the unseen & unheard. It’s definitely reinforcing my mind & soul to carry on as some type of pirate or soldier of God - ransoming the meek & humiliating the tyrants.
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For much of my life, I had pretty low self esteem. From about the time I was 10, especially, I had it rather rough. So I really don’t believe that all healthy self esteem comes from the inside. If you grow up the way I did, you will obviously become a negative, self deprecating person. I still struggle with the shattered self esteem that mentally ill people have at times. Is there someone or group of people like that in your life? In the words of Dave Grohl, “is someone getting the best of you?”
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