• Parents, class mates, teachers, lecturers, tutors, team leaders, friends, partners, church and many others.

There are many reasons why your self-esteem can be low:

• Past criticism by parents, teachers and people who have held authority over you.
• Wrongs you have – or feel you have – committed (check out false guilt with someone whose advice you can trust).
• Negative views you hold about yourself from words spoken over you in your past – “You’ll never be any good” – “You are a waste of time – “You always mess up” – “John is much better than you – “Of course Sarah always passes her exams”

• How much do I like myself?
• How do I feel about myself (use descriptive words or phrases)
• What triggers negative feelings in me?
• Can I make any obvious changes (e.g. drinking makes me feel bad the next day, my work suffers, my friends get ahead of me, I feel less good than my friends as a result, I feel depressed – everyone else is smarter than me….)?
• Are there things in my past – words spoken over me – things I have done – experiences I have had – that make me feel bad about myself?

Now look at these, sleep on them and if you can not sort them out on your own – find someone – possibly a doctor or counsellor you can talk to about them. they have to be dealt with or they willl continue to affect your life in a negative way. Good luck (we’ve all been there to one degree or another).