Sadly, low self-esteem is a huge problem for lots of teenage girls. You can blame society for that one, and it’s a problem that has arguably increased as technology advances. The rise of social media means your kids are exposed to new influences all the time. It’s so easy for them to open Instagram and be bombarded with photos of celebrities and female influencers – each one perfectly sculpted and photoshopped out of their minds.
It creates a world where girls grow up believing they need to look a certain way. To compound this, they see so many young teenagers on social media that are wildly successful and earning loads of money. You can quite easily understand how this combination of things can lead to low self-esteem.
So, as their mother, how do you help your teen daughter deal with their self-esteem issues?
Remind them of their self-worth
A lot of girls feel like crap about themselves because they’re never told how amazing they are. Always make an effort to remind your daughter how wonderful she is – and how proud you are of all her current achievements. Simple things like this can remind them that, yeah, they do have a lot of self-worth and they are doing great things. It won’t solve the problem, but it’s a great first step.
Encourage them to try new things
Getting your daughter to take up new hobbies or try new things can be an excellent way to restore some self-esteem. Effectively, you’re giving them something to focus on and improve at. This might be a sport, it could be art or anything they enjoy doing. When they focus on this, it grounds them and gives them something to work towards. They’ll feel really proud of themselves for improving as the days, weeks, and months go by.
Seek out professional help
Sometimes, you have to realize that you are not qualified to deal with your child’s mental health problems. You’re doing everything you can to make a difference, but their self-esteem issues are so bad they need professional help. As you can see from these Eva Carlston Academy reviews, institutions exist that are specifically designed to help teen girls with these kinds of problems. Taking your child to a place like this – or seeking any other professional guidance – can help them get to the root of their problems and work through them.
Help them reduce the negative impact of social media
Lastly, you can talk to your daughter about social media and what it might be doing to them. Encourage them to unfollow accounts that only publish edited photos or content that’s just a wild misrepresentation of reality. Get them to follow positive influencers who talk about things like women’s mental health and body image. If they can purge their feeds of toxic influences and replace them with more positive and normal content, it can make a huge difference.
At the end of the day, your mental health can suffer if your child is suffering. It is super stressful when you’re worried about your daughter and how she feels. As such, you need to take action as soon as possible, helping them work through their problems.
This post was submitted by Simone Devonshire.