Self-doubt

In psychology, self-doubt is the doubt about one's own person (about oneself). Affected people find themselves in an inner dissatisfaction and insecurity about what they themselves can do or want to do. Therefore, one speaks of self- insecurity. The own person is perceived subjectively and positive things are therefore mostly overlooked. The opposites are self-confidence , self-awareness, and self-assurance.

causes

Possible causes for self-doubt are for example:

• negative, traumatic experiences with the environment, disappointments and rejections projected onto oneself
• lack of trust , appreciation , empathy and attention from others to oneself (see also basic trust vs. basic mistrust , hospitalism )
• Prejudice and discrimination in society against oneself
• general wrong worldview due to the influence of mass media and cognitive distortions
• (supposed) competition and pressure to develop , comparison with others
• Questioning one's own actions, ideals and personality ( identity crisis )
• Overwork and inability to deal with a problem or situation
• Feelings of guilt and losses that make you doubt yourself, for example because you couldn't intervene or not enough
• depressions
• Inferiority complexes
• general uncertainty and uncertainty (lack of tolerance for ambiguity )
• Lack of self-confidence , self-esteem , self-reliance, autonomy , self-esteem, negative self-perception and the inability not to admit one's success despite obvious evidence ( impostor syndrome )
• perfectionism that cannot be fulfilled and expectations that are too high from oneself
• Fears (especially fear of the future , fear of change, failure to appear as something bad, existential fears or fear of success )
• Shyness and Social Anxiety
• Stress and restless life situations
• Illnesses and other impairments of health and the body and mind, personality disorders and stress disorders
• Influence from drugs or intoxicants

treatment

Affected people should learn to appreciate themselves more . For this purpose, they should be able to assess their body and mind well and be well aware of their own skills and knowledge ( self-concept ). They should also question their own subjective perceptions and points of view and learn to better assess the possible consequences of avoidable defeats and, if necessary, to put them into perspective. The trust , appreciation , recognition and empathy of a trusted person or a therapist can serve as important support. Methods of psychoanalysis or depth psychology are mostly used to deal with traumatic events that are seen as the cause . To a change of their own perspectives and their own behavior one usually comes behavioral therapy used. There are also many other forms of therapy that aim to improve self-esteem. These can take place individually or in supervised groups.

Web links

Wiktionary: Self-doubt  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

literature

• Marion Lemper-Pychlau: Success factor healthy pride: How to get rid of your self-doubts and enjoy your life.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Self- Doubt - Lexicon of Psychology . ( Spektrum.de [accessed October 30, 2017]).
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Self-doubt: You don't accidentally become an impostor | ZEIT campus . In: The time . June 11, 2014, ISSN  0044-2070 ( zeit.de [accessed October 30, 2017]).
3. ↑ ^{a b c d} Oskar Piegsa, Leonie Seifert: Self-doubt: What can I really do? | ZEIT campus . In: The time . June 11, 2014, ISSN  0044-2070 ( zeit.de [accessed October 30, 2017]).
4. ↑ ^{a b c} Self-doubt: the "impostors" refer to failures | ZEIT campus . In: The time . June 11, 2014, ISSN  0044-2070 ( zeit.de [accessed October 30, 2017]).
5. Jump up ↑ Psychology: Exercises against crippling self-doubt . In: The time . July 9, 2013, ISSN  0044-2070 ( zeit.de [accessed October 30, 2017]).

This article is about a health issue. It is not used for self-diagnosis and does not replace a diagnosis by a doctor. Please note the information on health issues !