Low self esteem in the twenty-first century is recognized as the outcome of the way that a person has been raised rather than a choice of lifestyle.  There isn’t a single person on the planet that chooses to have low self esteem, but around 80% of the population suffer it at some time in their life.  Many suffer it permanently.

It seems that people before viewed having low self esteem as a choice made by those who are born losers. People viewed low self esteem as the mark of those who would never really succeed at what they want. People thought that self esteem was caused by being a loser, and not the other way around.

Now, we have discovered that it is actually having low self esteem that causes losing streaks. It is low self esteem that decides a person's defeat even before the battle has begun. It is low self esteem that triggers a self-fulfilling prophecy that causes the downfall of the underdog.

What are the worst effects of having low self esteem?

1. Eating disorders- We have all heard of different cases of eating disorders. We have seen on television just how dreadful cases of eating disorders can be. Many people have seen the story of the anorexic teen who, though reduced to a bag bones, still thinks that she is too fat. Eating disorders result from a person feeling inadequate, a sure sign of low self-esteem.

2. Violence - There are different types of violence that occurs in our world today, and most of them come from self esteem issues. Gang violence, for example, comes from one gang's need to prove they are better than others. As John Irving said in "The Hotel New Hampshire", "there's nothing worse than a gang with an inferiority complex". Domestic violence also sprouts from low self esteem. The person who beats the other up usually does it in order to prove his or her superiority because of the fact that they don't really believe in themselves.

3. Addictive behaviours - This includes drug abuse, alcoholism, and smoking. You see, without their vices, these people often feel that their lives are not enough. They try to cover for their low self esteem by these habits. Drugs, for example, make a person forget about the harshness of his reality. Trapped in the fantasy world where he or she is not lacking anything, the person is reduced to little more than a zombie, thriving in the unreality of drug-induced dreams.

There are also addictive behaviours, like smoking, which a person takes up in order to appear more acceptable to society. Smoking only increased in popularity when mass media portrayed the habit as something done only by cool people. Therefore, those with low self esteem turned to smoking to enhance their image.

4. Sexual promiscuity - Sometimes, it is not really a craving for different partners that drives a person to become sexually promiscuous. More often than not, low self esteem drives that person to try over and over again to prove to him or herself that he or she can indeed satisfy another person. Sometimes, a person feels inadequate, even though his or her sexual partners keep assuring him or her of his or her sexual prowess.

Some persons want to believe what their partners tell them, but they are always seeking the ultimate proof by going to other people. This is a sure sign of low self esteem.  Fix the the problem and see your lifestyle improve.