I have suffered from the condition of low self-esteem for many years. Ever since I can remember, I have been aware that my confidence is very low. I always thought I stuck out in a crowd for all the wrong reasons. I do not consider myself as a good-looking person.

My childhood was as much as I know normal. I always found it hard to understand or answer this question as I have been asked it many times. As a child or adolescent, how do you know if your life is or was normal? What life experiences do you have at that age to base an opinion on? Every one of my acquaintances in the same year as me had their own individual battle’s going on in their own homes etc.

You can see that I made a distinction between having friends in school or as I called them “acquaintances”. This is because as a child or adolescent I had no true friends. All the people of the same age in school had no choice but to attend on a daily basis. These means we were obliged to talk and sometimes work together. As in many schools, you have to display a social aptitude to team building and relationship building.

My low self-esteem meant I found this unbearably painful. I thought the rest of the kids where making fun of me, I thought they constantly talked about me in a negative way. Most importantly, I thought I was different and did not fit in.

My parents attempted to encourage me, joining me in extra school clubs and activities. They thought they were helping however, they made my low self-esteem even worse. If their “HELP” had have continued I honestly think I would have considered taking my own life. This was my life and their medaling nearly resulted in this last course of action.

Low self-esteem (or as we Danes say – lavt selvværd symptomer) is a very destructive illness. I now as a well-balanced adult consider it as an illness due to the fact it is physiological condition that can be cured with the right help and counseling. Nowadays when I look around at the general population, I realize I was more than normal. I was bright, well developed and I had goals and ambitions.

My low self-esteem was grown out of. Nature run its course. I think with the right help or the opportunity to make a valuable relationship with someone going through the similar problem to me we could have helped ease the pain. Low self-esteem can be “nipped in the bud” very early on if you are lucky to fit in a group or find a best friend.

I had a very hard decision to make. As a young child, I made an observation that it is very hard to join in the “POSITIVE” group – they were tight nit and defensive. It was very easy to join in the “NEGATIVE” group as they accepted anyone. I however had standards and getting into trouble with the authorities and police was not on my agenda.