Many people do not realize just how important self-esteem is for mental health and overall wellbeing. In fact, self-confidence is a key predictor in emotional perseverance and resilience when times get tough. When you are facing life’s challenges, having a higher degree of self-esteem can help you protect yourself from negative self talk and manage stress better.
Today, we are going to look more closely at the link between self-confidence and mental health. We will also outline some tips and tricks that we like to share with our clients to help them build more self-confidence throughout the year. By the end of this article, we hope you will be empowered with the tools you need to treat yourself with kindness and compassion in 2026.
What Does Self-Confidence Mean?
According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, or NAMI, self-confidence can be defined as “how a person feels about themselves and what they do.” Someone who has a high degree of self-esteem believes they are a good person. In line with that belief, this individual can recognize their positive qualities and will strive for a happy, successful life. Someone with low self-esteem, on the other hand, will have negative feelings about themselves. They may believe that they are not worthy of love, success, or happiness.
When we learn to love, appreciate, and accept ourselves, we have a higher degree of confidence that we deserve good things in life. We are more committed to working toward building a life we love in all dimensions of wellness: career, relationships, mental health, physical health, and much more.
Why Self-Confidence Matters for Mental Health
Self-confidence and mental health are deeply interconnected, and having a positive self-concept is a major predictor for emotional wellbeing. High self-confidence promotes positive relationships, more effective stress management, and overall resilience. On the flip side, lower self-esteem has been linked to anxiety, depression, and social withdrawal.
Those who are struggling with low self-esteem may struggle with some of the following…
Negative Thinking: When you have low self-confidence, it is easy to fall into a pattern of harshly criticizing yourself and fearing failure. When you build up the narrative of “I’m not good enough,” you are subconsciously encouraging yourself to live into that story. Believing you can and will succeed is a key part of reaching your goals.
Mental Health Disorders: A lack of self-esteem is a direct contributor to anxiety, depression, and even eating disorders. Many studies, including this one from Medicine Baltimore, point to a link between low self-esteem in teens and developing both depression and substance use disorders.
Avoidance and Withdrawal: Those who have low self-confidence are often prone to avoiding social situations or new experiences. These individuals want to avoid challenges and trying new things because they are often afraid of judgment from others.
As you can probably see, low self-esteem can be incredibly isolating. It can also be a vicious cycle, in which the existence of low self-confidence keeps people from trying things and enjoying experiences that could actually raise their perceptions of themselves.
How to Build Your Self-Confidence
Virtually everyone has moments during which they get down on themselves and do not give themselves the credit that they deserve. Even those who project confidence may struggle with their perception of themselves in private. This is to say that, if you are feeling low on self-esteem, you are not alone. Still, it is important to try to build up that confidence in yourself and your abilities. Here are some tips from our team of expert providers to help you feel strong and self-assured this year and beyond:
Identify Negative Beliefs and Challenge Them
Building self-confidence starts with understanding the negative beliefs you hold about yourself. Look toward your self-talk, identifying patterns that do not serve you. For instance, do you often talk down to yourself about your intelligence, your looks, or your career success? Start to note these thoughts – you can even write them down in a notebook or journal. Then, write down some evidence that challenges these beliefs.
Catalogue Your Positive Attributes
Instead of falling back on negative thinking patterns rooted in false beliefs about yourself, focus on the things you do like about yourself. You could try daily gratitude journaling or other positive mindset building tools to help you come up with a list. You might also try posting a list of your positive attributes somewhere you can see it. This will help remind yourself of your strengths, and over time, rewire your patterns of negative self-talk.
Focus on Relationships That Build You Up
Do you ever notice that you feel more down or bad about yourself when you are around certain people? Who we surround ourselves with makes a big impact on our mental health, and if there are people who are consistently making you feel poorly about yourself, it may be time to institute some boundaries or reconsider those relationships. Instead, shift your social energy to friendships and relationships that lift you up!
Speak Kindly to Yourself
One piece of advice that we love to give to our clients? Talk to yourself in the way that you would a friend. Oftentimes, we have an easier time being kind to others than we do to ourselves. If a friend of yours was in the same situation, what advice would you give them? How would you be encouraging, acknowledging where they are struggling but reminding them that they can do hard things? Reframing your self-talk in this way can be very helpful.
Seek Help If Needed
If you are struggling with low self-confidence, working with a licensed mental health professional or therapist can help. Psychiatric mental-health nurse practitioners (PMHNPs), like many of our team members here at Triumph, can help you navigate the path toward building a stronger perception of yourself and seeing the associated mental health benefits.
Get the Support You Need at Triumph Behavioral Health
Here at Triumph Behavioral Health, we are committed to providing compassionate, evidence-based mental health care to individuals and families across Maryland. Whether you are navigating stress, anxiety, depression, trauma, or life transitions, support is available.
Caring for your mental health is one of the most powerful investments you can make in your overall wellness, and you don’t have to do it alone.
Reach out to our team today to get the help you need. At Triumph, we care.