I Struggle With Depression and Lack of Self-Worth
I am depressed. I feel like I’m going crazy. I am in such a weird place in my life right now. I am 23 years old, male. I place way to much importance on how I perceive women look at me. I have been addicted to pornography which I believe has affected me.
I’m self-conscious, lack confidence and feel horrible whenever I think of my current girlfriend. She has done nothing wrong, but I still hurting. Its as if I’m waiting to be hurt by her even though she shows no intention of letting that happen.
Why do I let women have so much influence over me? I just want to be happy, I’m tired of feeling like crap!
-Pat
Dear Pat,
Thanks for sharing your current situation with me. The answer is pretty simple. You hate yourself and you believe you’re worthless. If you can’t love yourself then its next to impossible to believe that anyone else would love you and believe that you have worth.
This often becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, because you no doubt do things to drive people away that care about you. This is what you’re doing now with your current girlfriend. You act hurt by her when she has done nothing. She will soon get worn out by this game and she’ll leave you. This will only reinforce your faulty belief that you are worthless and no one loves you and this cycle will continue unless you break it.
Somewhere in you childhood you came to believe that you were worthless and unlovable. Usually this belief forms as a result of the way the adults in our lives treat us. I don’t know your history, but I bet someone you looked up to made you feel like trash. You bought into the lie and now you’re stuck hating yourself and allowing everyone else (girls) to determine your worth.
You can break this vicious cycle by learning what irrational beliefs you have formed about the world and yourself and then begin to undo them. I advise you to see a counselor weekly who specializes in Cognitive Behavioral Theory (CBT) and more specifically Rational Emotive Behavioral Theory (REBT). This counselor will be able to work with you and help you destroy the lies, so you can begin to love yourself.
You can change the way you feel about yourself and have great relationships and a successful future, but you will have to take some time to work through the counseling process. When I went through the counseling process in my early twenties, it changed my life and is what inspired me to in turn want to counsel others.
You aren’t worthless, you have tremendous value, and your future is bright just for being you no matter what any girl or person thinks. As for the porn issue, I think that is least of your worries at this stage and probably will take care of itself once you begin thinking correctly about yourself. You probably use porn as a temporary escape from the emotional pain you experience so once the emotional pain is taken care of, you won’t need the porn.
All the best,
Ted
Filed Under: Ask a Counselor, Depression, Self Esteem


Comments (2)
I’am very self-conscious, luck confidence and feel trip in a horrible nightmare, that is my life. I have amount to nothing in life. Because of my learning disablity is holding me back. I had great vision and dream of how my life was suppose to be like. My vision was to living my dream in the Entertainment business, married with children, enjoying life and enjoying the good life. Now I’am a 31 year old loser that never been in a relationship with the oppsite sex and still living home with my parents. Both of my parent are now sick and need me to run a family business. That I just can’t do on my own and my family understand my life is a hell. I have never meet a attract women that finds me equally attractive. Everyday its like a never ending slap in the face. See all my the people I once know living there dreams. I’am so sick and tired of living with the pain. Now my father have cancer and mother is mentally ill. I don’t have any support anymore. My family have given up on me. Every night I go to sleep hoping I just don’t wake up and just die in my sleep. I week up fight myself should I live are die. I carry a deep pain of being a unachiever thourgh out my childhood now in my adult
life. In my culture if you are not successful, being productive and being emotionally strong. Then you are not a man and you are classifed as being a
have not. If you are in that group you community have no respect for you and doing want you around. It’s so hard living life along. I find myself taking to myself. Because I have no one to talk too and share my ambitions with. I find myself eating to easy my pain. At times I feel like I’am losing my mind and finding myself trusting people. Thanking there are all trying to hurt me. Every women I have meet so far have hurt me. I use use internet dating serivces and every perosn I have meet have been wrong for me. Its hard to date when you are short and ugly. Wemon in my culture only go out with tall men are average high men. Guys that are 5’11 to 6’0 plus with a very good jobs. I don’t have any of those. Whats real depressing is that my younger family memeber have pass me by. They have finish college, have a career and gotten married. There are years younger than
me. Its like living life in slow motion and the world passing me by so fast. I grow up being you can be anything when you set you mind to it. I believe in heaven and a hell. I believe this is my hell for something I must done wrong in my past life. Everything I do never comes out right and falls apart. Death seems like my freedom from my hell. I so tired of feeling in complete. My father serve his country retired from the Army expose to agent orange in Vietnam war. How our country thank him. By giving him cancer, bring death to the offspring and birth defects, like learning disablities like me. Now I have to spend rest of my short and painful life of hell. We live in a world were only the strong survive and the weak should suffer. Until you die for crime or drugs. I can’t get health insurance because I was treated for mental illness. Thanks to our people in washington. Want to take our right of working class people. Now I have fallen to work class. If I can hold down a job or get one. My grew up in a upper-middle class family and was hope to continue to at least, live in the class I grew up in with hard work. I can’t even do that. My father is ashamed of me. He tell me this all the time. Why couldn’t you make something of myself. Now all my dream and hopes have been shattered. Now I’am just planning my Funeral, writing our a list in hoping for another life. There is nothing in this world for me. For those who believe there is…Trying living life with a learning disability and a broken back. I watch pornography because its the closest to being with attractive women. Everynight I cry myself to sleep and only sleep for 3 to 4 hours. I week up and beat myself for punshisment for being a loser. I beat myself with cords, belts and strong sticks for pain lession of my life. I have been depressed for so long, from never having a relationship of any kind other than my parents. I have grow emotionally num to the world. I just want a clear conscious before my Death day on my Birthday May 10th. I would end my life on mother’s day. It was the day I was born May 10th on Mother’s day. Its my birthday gift to myself, the gift of pace and end to my suffering. I have my last meal planned out.
Hello,
I feel for you because I have experienced such feelings in my past. If you consider using therapy as a way to lift yourself up away from this weird time in your life, consider hypnotherapy. It is a very powerful way to make deep internal changes that last. If you live in Los Angeles, feel free to connect with me at: fbhypnotherapy@gmail.com
I would love to assist you in feeling more happy. Best Regards,
Franck Bensoussan,
Master Hypnotist
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