Timur Ahmed

11/13/15

Why are self-esteem and confidence issues so prevalent within young adults and
teens?

Intro:
They found her in the woods, her body motionless and stiff. Only fifteen years old, an
unfortunate victim of self-esteem and confidence. The young girl was being bullied, and
even tried to seek out some help from her friends, but no one listened. Over and over and
over again, she was told that she was fat, and ugly, a no-body. They even told her to end
her life, and that she wouldnt be missed when she was gone. She ignored them the first
time, the second time, all the way up to the fifth or sixth time. After that, she started to
believe the bullies. Her self-esteem plummeted. The little confidence she had in herself
was seized the day she gave up on herself. Ultimately, leading up to her suicide. She is
but one out of thousands of teens and young adults who commit suicide every year due
to low self-esteem and little to none confidence in themselves.
Background Info:
Self-esteem is a self-reflection of a persons emotional values and own worth. It can
also be defined as how a person feels about themselves and what they do. (About Self-

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11/13/15
Esteem) Confidence within ones self can be defined in many ways, the most prevalent
being that it is the feeling of trust in the ability of doing things yourself. (Neuman) Such

as: qualities and your judgement. Both of these emotions are very immense issues within
young people today. Mostly in people ranging from the ages of 12-27. More than half of

teen suicides today are due to bullying which arises to low self-esteem and pitiful
confidence in ones self. Low self-esteem arises in many shapes and forms. It starts for
most individuals at the tender age of five. Parents are the prime shapers of our young
psyches at this time. However, schools, society, and our peers also play an important role.
Our later experiences in life merely reinforce the core impressions we gained at this very
early age. (Selvarajah)
Thesis:
Self-esteem and confidence issues within young adults is the single most dangerous
pair of problems a young adult can have at one time.
The Suicide Rates:
Thousands of teenagers and young adults commit suicide every year due to low levels
of confidence and self-esteem, which makes it the number one reason of deaths in the two
groups mentioned. The suicide rates have gotten higher for people aged 14-24 to a ten
percent rate of suicide per year for that specific age group. The World Health

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Organization states that "worldwide, suicide is among the top five causes of mortality in
the 15- to 19-year age group and in many countries it ranks first or second as a cause of

death among both boys and girls in this age group" and recommends "destigmatizing
mental illness" and "strengthening students' self-esteem" to protect "children and
adolescents against mental distress and dependency" and enable "them to cope adequately
with difficult and stressful life situations." (Suicide Prevention) My analysis of the rate
of suicides is that the main reason for the suicides in teens was bullying, more
specifically. Bullying leads to low self-esteem, which in turn leads to no confidence.
When someone doesnt have either standards for themselves it leads to a feeling of not
being wanted and not loved. Symptoms which are common in a mental illness called
Depression. Once someone is diagnosed with depression, throughout my research I
found that it ends up being a slippery slope for that unfortunate individual. They either
end up somehow climbing the slippery slope, or they dont make it up. The latter
implying that they commit suicide eventually, or just go insane. A graph displaying youth
suicide rates in the U.S.A. from 1999-2013: (Youth Suicide Rate)

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11/13/15

Another major reason why self-esteem and confidence issues within young adults is the
single most dangerous pair of problems a young adult can have at one time is the level of
uncertainty you get in doing things and negativity.
The Level of Shame and Uncertainty:
Teenagers and young adults are very open and dangerously exposed to bullying which
leads to a very low level of self-worth and shamefulness in ones self. Once an individual
hits the level of uncertainty that is associated with depression, they start to second guess
everything they do. Even certain things that are not worthy of being a worrying factor.
They deem themselves unworthy of a partner, a good friend, etc. Anything that is good
for that individual is ruled out as to good for him/her. A common trend in those who have
low self-esteem, and low confidence within themselves. It starts to effect those
individuals lives at home as well. They might seem down all the time, they may not want
to communicate/talk to their parents about anything, mad all the time, which would lead

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11/13/15

to fights with close relatives such as; siblings, cousins, uncles, aunts. Most of the time it
is seen between the individual and his/her parents in most cases. People with long-term
low self-esteem generally see the world as a hostile place and themselves as its victim. As
a result, they feel reluctant to express and assert themselves, miss out on experiences and
opportunities, and feel helpless about changing things. All this merely lowers their selfesteem even further, and they end up getting caught in a downward spiral. (Burton) My
analysis is that those who are on the brink of depression tend to have many breakdowns,
and it leads to them thinking of life as a living hell, not a blessing. Ultimately, those who
are on this path tend to get to the very dangerous shameful and uncertain emotional
levels.
Conclusion:
Her name was Alexandra Paul. From the country of Ireland, still yet tender in her
thoughts and her feeling towards herself. The night she went into the woods and decided
to end her life in the saddest and most tragic way possible, from her own hands, she left a
note. The note consisted of a short and very dejected list of the reasons she decided to do
what she did. It consisted of being bullied to the point of complete denial, it stated that
she couldnt deal with life anymore, that she was ugly, and she was fat. She carried
on saying that she didnt belong among her peers and family. Saying she was unworthy
of anything good that had happened to her all the way up till now. Reading Alexandras
story really hit me hard, and was ultimately the main reason why I decided to do a paper

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11/13/15

on this topic. Before the research I did on this topic, I thought that my self-esteem was
bad when I had problems, but, it was nothing at all like the problems I read about. Selfesteem and confidence issues within young adults is the single most dangerous pair of
problems a young adult can have at one time because it is extremely widespread due to
insecure feelings towards oneself found in teenagers and young adults. Also, to help the
people who have these unfortunate and nasty problems a step in which you can take is in
telling one of their loved ones, such as parents, or siblings, that this person is going
through a lot and need help immediately. Lastly, to prevent it is up to that person. Try not
to keep yourself down, or thinking of yourself as inferior to anyone else. Conducting this
research has made me really appreciate myself, and the standards at which I hold myself.
Ive gotten a new perspective on life as of late. The only question I might still have is:
When will issues like this start to be taken more seriously?

Timur Ahmed
11/13/15

Works Cited:

About Self-Esteem. Youngminds.co.uk. Minded.org.uk, 2015. Web. 10 Nov. 2015.

Burton, Neel. Building Confidence and Self-Esteem. Psychologytoday.com.

HealthProfs.com, 30 May. 2012. Web. 6 Nov. 2015.

Neuman, Fredric. Low Self-esteem. Psychologytoday.com. HealthProfs.com, 14 Apr.

2013. Web. 6 Nov. 2015.

Self-Esteem. Current Issues: Macmillian Social Science Library. New York:

Macmillan Reference USA, 2003. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 6 Nov. 2015.

Self-esteem. Wikipedia.org. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 24 Nov. 2002. Web. 5 Nov.

2015.

Selvarajah, Asoka. Self Esteem The Problem Behind All Problems. Selfgrowth.com.
N.p., 2000. Web. 6 Nov. 2015.

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Understanding Suicide: Facts and Figures. Afsp.org. American Foundation For

Suicide Prevention, n.d. Web. 7 Nov. 2015.

Webber, Christine. How to overcome low self-esteem. Netdoctor.co.uk. Hearst

Magazines UK, 2 Nov. 2015. Web. 6 Nov. 2015.

Youth Suicide Rate. Kidsdata.org. Lucile Packard Foundation for Childrens Health,
n.d. Web. 4 Nov. 2015.

Timur Ahmed
11/13/15