There are times when we do something silly in front of others and we begin to feel negative about ourselves. It’s the nature of humanity to laugh or gossip about something they find amusing without knowing the story behind the event. While some brush it off others take it to the heart and start to feel insecure about themselves. In order to understand its causes, we must be aware of what emotional insecurity is in the first place.
What’s Emotional Insecurity?
Simply put, emotional insecurity is a sense of vulnerability and doubt one feels upon being perceived and/or thinking that they are inferior to someone which in turn damages their self-image. Excessive insecurity may lead to other issues that can damage an individual’s personal and professional life, such as ruining one’s relationship, career prospects, and even putting oneself in isolation.
Causes of Emotional Insecurity
Written text “Am I good enough”?
These are some of the causes that may lead to emotional insecurity.
- Brain chemistry: Researchers are certain that we feel emotions due to chemicals in our brain and when their proportions are changed one may feel certain emotions. Therefore, some medications, drug abuse, and physical inactivity can cause insecurity.
- Lack of Emotional support: Hardships are certain in everyone’s life and we are destined to face tough choices, however, we need someone to support us and provide emotional warmth whether it be from a relationship, friend, or family to face these challenges. Lack of or reduced support can cause insecurity in adults, as well as in children.
- Physiological hardships: Once a person is faced with the scarcity of basic needs such as food, water, and shelter. Their thought process is automatically altered and they start to feel inferior resulting in insecurity.
- Restrictions: This one mostly applies to children and teenagers but is not limited to them. While growing up if a child is put under a lot of restrictions and constant watch they tend to develop anxiety and insecurity later down the road. It is often seen that usually insecure adults were brought up in such a manner.
- Stress/Failure: Whether it be academic or at a job, bad performance and screw-ups can force one to think of oneself as being inferior or not being good enough for the position. Slowly a person’s mentality becomes in a way that they start to feel insecure even while going to the job/school.
- Body-image: Body image issues are rising rapidly in the modern era. As in previous times, there were no social media platforms that constantly reminded people of the “perfect body shape”. This has led many people both males and females to form a negative image of themselves and sometimes it becomes so serious that they even end up suiciding.
Ways to get rid of Insecurity
A person at the summit, symbolizing overcoming insecurity.
Here are some of the ways by which we can help ourselves or others to mitigate or remove this problem.
- Changing the mindset: The thing about insecurity is that it may make you think that it only occurs periodically, so controlling it during those times is the key? However, that’s not the case, acknowledging its effects on your daily life is important as it will make you realize how much it is affecting you negatively.
- Communication is the key: Another negative trait of insecurity is that it’s invisible, so even your dearest friends may not know about it. It is important that you communicate your issues with people you feel comfortable with to give your feelings an outlet. If possible express it to a mental health expert, they can provide tremendous help like no other.
- Physical health is important: Being physically active is one of the easiest and effective ways to get rid of insecurity. As our bodies are made to be active rather than being stationary, movements boost the reward chemicals in our brain resulting in feeling accomplished and satisfied. It doesn’t have to be an intense workout, a simple 20 minutes of jogging is enough to do the trick.
- Dig deep: As one feels insecure, it deludes their critical thinking ability. So it’s important once you are in a stable mindset to recall any memory or event that may have led you to this feeling. As our emotions are unable to differentiate between past and present, it’s our duty to understand that past events mustn’t rule our present.
- Always look at the bright side: It’s easy to talk about insecurity when it’s not there, however, once you are under its influence do not waver. Just remember that this is like a gust of wind, it too shall pass. Maintaining a positive mindset will help you in the long run.
- Accept who you are: This becomes easier as you age. But accepting yourself with all of your skills and limitations is essential when it comes to dealing with insecurity. As the world is full of talented people, it is a possibility that you may find someone way ahead of you in a certain field of life, however, the contrary is true as well you may be better at something than the next person. Comparing oneself to another will always lead to insecurity so it’s best to stop this pattern and accept yourself.
Another important thing to keep in mind is that insecurity just like any disease doesn’t get cured overnight. It takes time and patience to fully overcome this issue. But with a new perspective and help from others, it can be done.
