The past decade or so has seen some real progress in becoming an inclusive society and more has been done to help cater for those with disabilities. Everyone with disabilities encounters daily challenges that could be made easier and none more than wheelchair users. Although we are breaking down more and more barriers to become an accessible and inclusive society, wheelchair users continue to face many challenges in their day-to-day lives. Some challenges are practical and environmental ones but some difficulties derive from the negative image they have of themselves which can negatively influence emotional well-being and even condition personal development.
Working on self esteem can help those with disabilities to fulfil better self respect and help improve self-image. For all of us throughout our lives, and based on our life experiences we develop an image about ourselves. Maintaining a positive attitude towards oneself is essential to help us feel good and safe in our daily environments. With stronger self-esteem we can condition all aspects of our lives and find it easier to overcome negative social experiences, prejudices and lack of support.
How to improve healthy self-esteem
One of the best ways for improving the situation is to foster positive social relationships. By belonging to positive groups outside of our family environment and making more decisions about our own lives help us to be more self-confident and feel more valued by others. This builds over time and is proven to boost our self esteem and in-turn build more positive relationships in more areas of our daily lives.
Self acceptance and knowing more about each other can also help us to learn to value and love ourselves. Once we know and accept each other, we are more able to more quickly detect our strengths and focus on these to maximise the results. Similarly, minimising weak points has the same affect and by identifying our weaknesses and defects and correcting them or finding daily workarounds helps to ease the negativity.
There are many activities that we can undertake to help us improve our low self -esteem. Celebrating successes and acknowledging them with others is a great way to do this. We all make mistakes but dealing with the aftermath in a positive way can be instrumental to help repair the process and build our self esteems. There are many organisations who operate workshops and courses to help to improve self image where activities are arranged to work on improving self-esteem in people with disabilities. Exercises on positive thinking are adopted and shared among like minded individuals who encounter similar problems and it is these group dynamics that help us build self-esteem.
Other ways to improve low self-esteem
Whereas some disabilities are less visible than others, those who use wheelchairs or those with a prosthesis cannot hide their condition. However, there are also invisible disabilities that affect individuals and their families. The disabilities that are not obvious to the naked eye can still be related to a high degree of disability and a greater risk of exclusion and discrimination. These invisible disabilities can attract active discrimination and even violations of basic rights for those affected.
The UK's NHS is a useful source of further information on improving ones self esteem irrespective of whether you have a disability or not. Why not take a look at their pages for more advice by clicking here.