Don’t Give Up Amid Low Self-Esteem And Suicidal Thoughts.

This topic sounds scary. Having giving up, low self-esteem and suicidal thoughts in one sentence is a dire case scenario. Nevertheless, all humans of all ages can suffer from feelings of low self-esteem, others at one time in life have felt helpless, hopeless and depressed till they almost gave up.

At that precise moment, some contemplated suicide and it is for that reason, that we ought, by all means, to address this kind of “malady.” We could have fallen victims at some stage in our lives or we know of a person who got pinned down completely and that they are only living because of an intervention from friends or some spiritual help.

When my friend Lewis proposed that I do this topic this week, I got to think seriously about it. It comes barely two weeks after I wrote about rejection in my weekly blog editions. Perhaps, it is time we tackled such type of serious topics. Through such, we can provide help, hope and inner peace to lots of people with such challenges as self-esteem and suicidal tendencies.

The world today is full of misery and suffering: people suffering from scary abuse of rape, mistreatment from family and friends, rejections, loss of loved ones and even physical battering and pain. These people get deeply disturbed in their minds and often get stressed and end up believing they don’t have a reason to live.

Deeper into the thoughts about these unfortunate happenings are born depression and feelings of low self-esteem. At that point, all hope is lost, the world is perceived as not able to offer any solace and suicidal thoughts creep in. If not taken care of, such people end up committing suicide in the actual sense.

James C. Overholser, Ph.D. from the psychology department at Case Western University in Cleveland, Ohio, set out to examine the direct relationship between suicidal tendencies and self-esteem. His conclusion was not surprising since he realized that low self-esteem is very closely related to feelings of hopelessness, depression and suicidal ideation.

Financial, employment, marriage and family troubles can be key contributors to a reduction in self-esteem. Lack of a sense of belonging and feelings that one is a burden, especially the elderly people, can also affect self-esteem.

Lewis jokingly hinted to me that no one ought to commit suicide now because the SGR loan is a collective unpaid debt for all Kenyans. Each of us has a part to play towards its repayment. All of us have an obligation in its repayment. In other words, every life is very precious.

No person needs to feel that they don’t matter at all. Life is God-given and is only God-taken. Yes, we ought to have control over our lives but we don’t have any power to take them in any way. We can have the strength to face all challenges in our lives by choosing to master our circumstances instead of being just victims.

How to overcome low self-esteem and suicidal thoughts

The good news is that self-esteem can be reclaimed. It begins with our initiative as a person and as a support from other people. Once you realize a person has suicidal thoughts, refer them immediately to get help. This could come in two ways; medical and professional attention. These seek to offer emotional and psychological support such that through coaching, the individual can reclaim his or her self-esteem.

Secondly, when addressing such people, always use positive words as much as possible and often than not encourage them. Give them hope while adequately helping meet their needs and desires; only those that are not harmful and within one’s capacity.

Perhaps, the greatest help you can offer is that of time and showing such individuals compassion. Listen to them at a personal level. Offer them solace and at the helm of it all, give them spiritual nourishment.

Thirdly, these individuals ought to understand the need to have self-compassion and acknowledge their daily struggles. Let them not be hard on themselves. Self-critical people often develop low self-esteem and lose hope when they fall short of their objectives as noted by Kristin Neff, a self-compassion researcher.

In a nutshell, the individuals suffering from low self-esteem must show initiative towards accepting themselves, accepting medical and professional help and meeting the objectives of the help they get.

Lastly and perhaps most valuable is spiritual help and nourishment. This is the most important part of help to such people. Sometimes we cannot find inner peace that surpasses human understanding in people. It comes from God. It only needs belief.

Getting such people to accept and submit to God fully goes a long way to help them overcome hopelessness. The next thing closest to people’s hearts after families is spiritual relations. Spiritually helping and encouraging those suffering and who have lost hope will help them overcome. They only need to understand that they can overcome all things through Christ who strengthens them. This is the greatest healer of all stresses, low self-esteem and suicidal thoughts.

We can help a person overcome low self-esteem, hopelessness and suicidal thoughts by applying the principles highlighted here among others. We can also refer such people to a person who can help. By doing so, we could have saved a life and done a noble cause for humanity.