Self-esteem at work

Your self-esteem can be closely linked to your job. Your self-esteem is often linked to an idealised image of yourself rather than a realistic image. When you think about the idealistic image of yourself, you may experience self-confidence and perfectionism.

Yet when you are depressed, you may instead experience an image of yourself which you find almost unrecognisable. In this situation, you can easily become self-critical and feel guilt, shame or criticise yourself frequently. This will harm your self-esteem.

In the table below, you can see the differences between

• the ideal you
• the current you
• the realistic you

Exaggerated self-criticism

You should be aware that self-criticism is a symptom of depression. Self-criticism can be exaggerated. You should therefore seek therapeutic help if your self-critical thoughts begin to harm you in your work.

There is constructive self-criticism, such as "I would like to be better at this, I am going to practise more, learn it better, read or take some courses...:" It is a strength to be able to see your own faults, but not to hit yourself over the head with them.

Once you have learnt to distinguish between symptoms and realistic self-criticism, you can learn to control negative thoughts in connection with your work. There is no doubt that it is best for you to stay active, e.g. at work. It is best for you if you can do some of your work until the depression disappears. If the depression does not go away and it affects your work, you must take sick leave until you can go back to work again.