Self-esteem And Emotional Dependence
Humans are social beings. We like to make others happy and to share things with other people. But can our need for approval be harmful? Yes – in fact, it is one of the main causes of emotional dependence. Do you need to please everyone or just those who are important in your life? Who are the important people in your life? Do they have to approve everything you do?
We invite you to ask yourself these questions and to try to answer them. It’s one thing to know what you want to do and what you want your loved ones approval for, and another thing to feel that something is not worth doing unless the whole world loves you for it. There is a subtle but important difference. Keep reading to find out how this can affect your state of well-being!
What is emotional addiction?
Emotionally addicted people need love, attention and approval from other people at an unhealthy level. They have an irrational fear of loneliness and abandonment that makes them more docile in their relationship. They also have a strong desire to have exclusivity and say that they can not imagine a life without their partner .
In this way , they present a persistent pattern of emotional need that they cannot satisfy themselves, so they try to meet them by establishing inappropriate relationships with others. In other words, they develop parasitic and asymmetrical conditions, and justify their actions by attributing them to the goal of maintaining the relationship.
That’s not all. They long for protection and love in such an intense way that they lose themselves in the relationship in their desire to maintain it, despite the quality of the relationship. They establish intense and unstable bonds, in place of healthier bonds. Of course we will all be loved, but we would not do absolutely everything to achieve that, would we?
How does emotional dependence affect our psychological well-being?
The problem with being too dependent on others on an emotional level is that if the person does not receive the disproportionate attention and love that they demand, they begin to doubt their own dignity. And they begin to doubt how much people value them, which has a negative impact on their emotions and self-esteem.
They begin to feel rejected, rejected and abandoned. The resulting grief is intense and can lead to a cruel cycle of emotional emptiness, chronic dissatisfaction and, ultimately, depression.
Not only that, but the fear of being alone also causes them to do everything to avoid loneliness, which increases their symptoms of anxiety. When they expect to be lonely, they become very nervous and throw themselves into toxic relationships.
Self-esteem can counteract emotional dependence
As you can imagine, emotionally addicted people have low self-esteem and have negative thoughts about themselves. Once again, this leads to a greater need for support and love. They depend on others to feel good.
The only person you are going to spend your whole life with is yourself. Therefore , your well-being should not depend on the approval of others, but on your own. This means that the first person you should like is yourself.
But what can you do to love yourself more? A simple exercise is to do something every day that makes you feel good, both physically and psychologically. It may take effort in the beginning since most of us are not used to taking care of ourselves, but after a while d will start to cultivate positive feelings about yourself. In this way, you will prevent yourself from becoming a victim of pathological emotional addiction. So go out now and love yourself!
