The State of Medicine And Self-Esteem Essay
In a world where you can be anything you want to be, why be something you are not? But what is “identity”? The textbook definition is “the fact of being who or what a person or thing is”, but no one really knows the true meaning. Self-identity plays a large and significant role in shaping each of our lives. The artificial concept of identity exists because people want to be socially accepted, which is why they follow societal norms. Although some people can be universally true to their identity regardless of the circumstances or individuals present, I strongly believe that identity is artificial because your attitude and the way you project yourself around others can change depending on the environment, the people you socialize with, the experiences you hold from your household, and your self-esteem. The State of Medicine And Self-Esteem Essay
Identity and self-esteem are closely related. The source of self-esteem is all about feeling good about yourself because of things “outside” rather than “inside”. Self-esteem is how you value yourself and your sense of self-worth.
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Self-esteem is a critical part of one’s self-awareness as it heavily influences how we perceive and value ourselves (Beebe, Beebe & Ivy., p.32., 2007). Self-esteem also influences how we relate and interact with others as it can affect our perception. However, it is important to note that self-esteem is not static as it can change over the course of time or even over the course of a day due to both external and internal influences such as a television ads making you feel bad about your appearance, your boss criticizing your work, or for a positive example, someone complimenting your clothes. Communication influences self-esteem in a variety of ways that can either be positive or negative, which can range from self-expectations, self-talk and the relationships with those around you. All of these have a significant impact on one’s self-esteem. Beebe, Beebe and Ivy illustrate how self-talk, or intrapersonal communication affects self-esteem by saying that positive and negative self-talk is related to “the building and maintaining of one’s self-concept.” (p. 44., 2007.) The State of Medicine And Self-Esteem Essay
Today obesity is talked about as a major physical health problem. It can cause diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, immobilization, and many other problems. However many articles fail to mention what is one of the most important and most destructive problems. This is the effect of obesity on one’s mental health and wellbeing. Being excessively overweight usually instills in it’s victims a sense of self worthlessness and gives them a very negative self-image. This can lead to an array of problems that affect the person in a way that is much more direct and difficult to deal with than physical problems. While the problem is known to affect men, it strikes women much more often.
The models and celebrities in the media that set the…show more content…
Also, she states that more importance has now been placed on how women’s bodies look in the nude because of fashion magazines and commercial images instead of how women look under layers of body enhancing clothing (p.6). “Obesity is not simply a cosmetic disorder,” state Jeffrey Koplan and William Dietz in their article “Caloric Imbalance and Public Health Policy” (p.1). The State of Medicine And Self-Esteem Essay These physicians fail throughout the entire article to truly mention the mental effects of being overweight; they just seem to think that being fat is a small problem when it comes to looks. This is just one of many examples that have disgusted people who are experts on mental health and society’s pressures. “Like other minorities, fat people are seen as throwbacks to a more primitive time,” states Schwartz (p.3). Obese individuals and populations are looked at as inferior, lazy, self-indulging, and out of control. A revolutionary type of assertion is made by Schwartz in his article. He states that if it were a fat society, people would live longer, happier lives because they would be more comfortable in their own bodies (p.5). This completely contradicts what virtually every medical study in existence says, but it may be right. There is one example of how this works in America; in the 1960’s Roseto, Pennsylvania had a population of nearly 1,700 people, almost all of whom were obese, and there is hardly a recorded case of obesity related troubles (Schwartz The State of Medicine And Self-Esteem Essay
Introduction
In Aboriginal teachings, the medicine wheel is sacred because it represents the various components of a healthy, well-rounded individual. Like wellness, the medicine wheel represents an “active state of health in which an individual progresses toward a higher level of functioning, thus achieving an optimum balance” (as cited in Fain & Lewis, 2002, p. 7). The medicine wheel is divided into four major sections, each representing a major part of a person (physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual). In order to achieve balance in one’s life, one must analyze each of these components, and work to improve communications within one’s self. Intrapersonal communication is vital to the development of self-concept and self-esteem, which in turn, contribute to better communication and interpersonal relationships (Beebe, Beebe, Redmond, & Geerinck, 2008). Therefore, it is crucial that a person has a “genuine sense of worth [in themselves],” before they look to develop an understanding of another person’s life (social decentering) (Beebe et al., 2008, p.47). This paper will serve as a means to assess my own intrapersonal communication in each of these four categories, using the medicine wheel described in Mussell (2005). In doing so, I hope to gain insight of how to improve my intrapersonal communication in each aspect of my life, which will, in theory, contribute to an increased ability to communicate with others (interpersonal communication). The State of Medicine And Self-Esteem Essay
Physical
Why Should Self Esteem Matter to You?
Self esteem can be the difference between success and failure
Esteem can affect your thinking, causing your outlook to be positive or negative
Esteem affects your confidence
It affects your body image and shame
If you do not value yourself how will you be able to value others?
Self esteem enables you to have the right attitude to succeed at work
It affects your happiness because it can cause you to compare yourself with others
Let’s take a moment or two to look a bit more closely at what I’ve said above – and then I hope that you will appreciate the importance of self esteem.
Your potential to achieve what you most desire is directly related to your self esteem. As they say, you can if you believe you can. On the other hand, failure is much more likely when you suffer from low self esteem because you will believe others when they tell you why you cannot succeed. Low self esteem will affect your motivation and make you more likely to give up on anything that seems difficult. So, work on building your self esteem and success will be that much easier.
I’m sure you realise the importance of positive thinking. Increase your esteem and you will become more positive. This will benefit you in every area of your life.The State of Medicine And Self-Esteem Essay