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Hi there,
When someone tells you things to make you feel bad about yourself for a long time, its natural to start to believe them. But this is called emotional abuse, and this is wrong.
Emotional abuse can have a very big impact on your self-esteem. Having low self-esteem can mean you often have negative thoughts or feel like you're worthless or dont deserve to have friends. You've been living with this for a very long time and you deserve to get support. You are important and your feelings matter.
Its really important to know that it's not your fault you have these thoughts and feelings. They are a result of your low self-esteem. Sometimes it's easier to believe bad things about ourselves instead of positive things. And when things are repeated to us they become much harder to ignore.
Finding some support from someone you trust could be the first step towards improving your self-esteem. Your doctor would be able to help you think about what kind of support you might need and what's available to you. You can also look at our building confidence and self esteem page for some ideas of how to start helping yourself.
Sometimes, it can be hard to start talking about difficult feelings to someone in your life and thats okay. You could try talking to one of our counsellors, who are always there to listen and support you.
Take care,
Sam
You can talk privately to a counsellor online or call 0800 1111 for free.
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