All people at some point have felt inferior in some aspect to another, whether because they are better than us at some activity, because they are more intelligent, because of their cultural and/or educational level, physical appearance, etc. However, we also take into account that we can be better than others and that does not cause us any conflict. When a person suffers from an inferiority complex, they are constantly comparing themselves with others, they have the feeling that they do not measure up and they feel less valuable and incapable of doing things that others can. This situation causes a significant deterioration in her self-esteem and a poor self-concept of herself. Having an inferiority complex causes a lot of personal frustration and anxiety. People who suffer from an inferiority complex face a serious problem that limits one or more areas of their life.
In this Psychology-Online article, we are going to explain in detail The causes, symptoms and treatment of inferiority complex.
There are a series of typical characteristics that are characteristic of a person who suffers from an inferiority complex. Some of them are the following:
- Extreme shyness in different social contexts.
- Difficulty making decisions.
- Feeling of not measuring up to others.
- Need to want to please others.
- .
- Recognize other people’s achievements but not your own.
- Allowing yourself to be influenced by others and lacking your own criteria.
An important aspect to begin to overcome the inferiority complex is to know what its causes are. The feeling of inferiority may have originated even from childhood, since a child who has received support and acceptance from his parents despite his moments of success or failure and who has not been punished for it, but rather motivated to Doing better, you will be less likely to develop an inferiority complex. However, it can develop from almost anything. The most common causes are the following:
- For some physical characteristic that the person does not like, for example: body weight, height (being too tall or short), some specific physical feature such as the size and/or shape of the nose, teeth, color of the skin, etc.
- Some anxiety reaction of the person, for example: blushing, sweating excessively, body odor, stuttering, tic.
- Due to the lack of social and technical skills, among others. The person does not take into account that any type of skill is developed by continually practicing it and feels that he is not suitable.
- When as a child you have been constantly criticized by parents, teachers and/or peers.
- Having had parents who didn’t value themselves enough.
- Focus more on weaknesses than strengths.
- with oneself.
After having analyzed some of the main characteristics that people with feelings of inferiority have, as well as knowing what are the most common causes for a person to begin to generate it. We are going to give you a series of tips that you can rely on to learn how to overcome the inferiority complex.
stop comparing yourself
A mistake that people with feelings of inferiority make is to constantly compare themselves with others. When that happens, we must remember that there will always be people who are more attractive, intelligent, with more or less health, etc., just as there are also less attractive, less intelligent people, with less health, among other things. However, it is not about comparing but simply seeing things from another perspective, recognizing that despite their defects and virtues.
Modify your thoughts
Normally, people with an inferiority complex continually have negative and irrational thoughts about themselves. What happens with these thoughts is that they end up becoming emotions. A person who constantly thinks that they are not capable, that they are inferior to others, that they always do everything wrong, etc., will surely find themselves sad, angry with themselves and/or depressed. Therefore, the importance of changing our negative thoughts for more positive ones that help us feel better.
You can start by detecting when these types of thoughts appear and once you have detected them, analyze them and modify them. For example, if I have the thought “I do everything wrong, I am not suitable for anything”, in this case it is an irrational thought, since you are generalizing, one cannot be suitable for everything, however, neither not at all. In this case, the new thought would be: “I am not doing this well, for now I do not have enough skill to do it, however, I do have the skill to do something else” and keep in mind that to develop a skill you have to practice it, not It is achieved overnight.
Reduce self-criticism
Stop constantly criticizing yourself because it will only awaken feelings of discomfort in you. Be careful what you say to yourself, don’t be so harsh, remember that nobody is perfect. Change destructive criticism for a more constructive one. One way to do it is that every time you catch yourself criticizing yourself, imagine that what you are saying to yourself you are saying to your best friend or a very dear person, give yourself comfort and motivate yourself, just as you would do with that person.
Don’t try to please everyone
Identify your beliefs, ideas and values, once you have them identified, be firm with them and act accordingly. Realize what you are doing now that does not agree with your way of being and analyze why you are doing it. You may discover that you are doing many of these things to feel accepted by others and to try to please them. Start changing that now be yourself Because if you try to please everyone, which is impossible, you lose respect for yourself, you stop accepting yourself as you are and you stop being authentic.
Psychotherapy
If you feel that the inferiority complex you have is very intense, that it is limiting you in one or more areas of your life, or you would simply like to receive external support to overcome it, you can assist with a professional who will be in charge of helping you and supporting you in this process. The objective of psychotherapy will be to provide you with the tools so that you can move forward, increase your self-esteem, confidence and so that you can move towards a life with greater meaning.