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Low self-esteem makes us feel bad about ourselves. But did you know that over time it also can cause the development of serious mental conditions such as depression?自卑讓人自我感覺極差。你知道嗎，長期自卑會導致抑鬱等嚴重的精神問題。
Self-esteem is, very simply, the set of feelings you have about yourself. It's developed by your experiences, thoughts, feelings, and relationships.自信心是什麼？簡單來說，就是你的經歷、思想、感覺和人際帶來的對自身的感受。
Unlike self-knowledge, which refers to how much you know about yourself, the core of self-esteem is formed around whether you like yourself or not. 不同於自我認知，自尊心的關鍵點在於你是否喜歡自己，而自我認知主要是指人對自身的了解程度。
Depression is much more than just feeling sad. It saps your energy, makes everyday activities difficult and interferes with your eating and sleeping patterns. Psychotherapy and/or medication are highly effective in treating depression. 抑鬱不僅僅是心理感傷那麼簡單。抑鬱症會讓人身心疲倦、難以進行日常活動、食欲不振、睡眠不好。心理疏導和藥物是治療抑鬱的有效方法。
There are several types of depressive disorders, including major depression, persistent depressive disorder, psychotic depression, postpartum depression, and seasonal affective disorder (SAD). 抑鬱症包括重度抑鬱、反覆性抑鬱、精神病性抑鬱、產後抑鬱和季節性抑鬱等。
Clinicians use low self-esteem as one possible symptom when they diagnose the psychiatric condition of major depressive disorder. They don't necessarily care whether low self-esteem causes the depression or vice versa.臨床醫生在診斷重度抑鬱症患者精神狀況時，常把自卑作為一個可能的依據。醫生不會太關注患者到底是因為自卑導致抑鬱症，還是因為抑鬱症而感到自卑的問題。
However, personality researchers have long wondered about the chicken-and-egg problem of self-esteem and depression. Certainly, if you dislike yourself, you'll be more likely to be depressed. Conversely, if you're depressed, you'll be more likely to feel bad about who you are as a person. 但是，人格研究人員一直以來對自信心和抑鬱症兩者間的因果關係感到十分疑惑。事實也確實如此，如果你不喜歡自己，你更可能感到抑鬱。相反地，如果你感到沮喪，你也更可能會否定自己。
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The only way to disentangle the highly related concepts of self-esteem and depression is through longitudinal research, in which people are followed up over time. A study on depression, conducted by University of Basel researchers Julia Sowislo and Ulrich Orth, contrasted the competing directions of self-esteem to depression vs depression to self-esteem.要解開自信心和抑鬱這兩個高度相關的概念問題，唯一的方法是通過縱向研究，長期跟蹤研究對象。（瑞士）巴塞爾大學研究院人員Julia Sowislo 和 Ulrich Orth 進行了一項關於抑鬱症的研究，比較了自信對抑鬱的影響和抑鬱對自信的影響。
The findings almost all overwhelmingly support the vulnerability model of self-esteem and depression. Over time, low self-esteem is a risk factor for depression, regardless of who is tested and how. The study indicated that low self-esteem causes depression but not vice versa.幾乎所有的研究結果都有力證明了自信心和抑鬱的脆弱程度。無論被測試者的身份和研究方法如何，自卑都是抑鬱症的誘因。這個研究證實自卑會導致抑鬱症，反之則不成立。
Therefore, if a person has low self-esteem, there's an increased risk of developing depression. This is a very important discovery because it shows that improving a person's self-esteem can make him or her feel better.因此，如果一個人自卑，TA患上抑鬱症的風險就更高。這是一個重大發現，說明提高一個人的自信心，會讓TA的自我感覺好很多。
The study concluded that there is convincing evidence to support the vulnerability effect of low self-esteem on depression.研究得出結論，有令人信服的證據表明自卑對抑鬱產生的負面效果。
According to Dr Lars Madsen, Australian clinical psychologist and self-esteem specialist, the reality often is that self-esteem is a key factor in both the development and maintenance of depression. A person with low self-esteem takes things personally, and in a negative way.澳大利亞臨床心理學和自信心研究專家Lars Madsen 博士表示，自信心是抑鬱發展和持續的主要原因。自卑的人往往會以消極的方式看待事物。
People with low self-esteem try not to disprove but to verify their negative self-concept by seeking negative feedback from the people in their network. They think about their inadequacies, focus on the negative feedback they receive from others, ponder that feedback, and as a result become more depressed. Their negative mood also leads them to be perceived more negatively by others, which leads them to feel hurt and rejected.自卑的人往往不善於反駁，他們把別人對自己的負面評價進行消極的自我評估。他們思考自己的不足，只在意思考別人的負面評價。如此一來，別人也會感到他們很消極，他們自己則會感到受傷和被排斥。
Madsen also confirms the rarity of studies on self-esteem and depression that allow for any causal arguments to be made. However, the comprehensive study noted above concluded that the best way to protect your positive mood is to find ways to boost your self-esteem.Madsen 博士還證實，由於缺乏研究案例，很難輕易給自信和抑鬱下結論。但上述研究指出，保持樂觀情緒的最佳方案就是增強自信。
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There are two reasonably straightforward approaches:這裡有兩個簡單合理的方法：
Don't try too hard to boost your self-esteem. Focusing on why you feel bad about yourself may actually make you feel worse, as pointed out by Oliver Burkeman, in his book The Antidote.不要過分給自己鼓勁。Oliver Burkeman在他的《解藥》一書中提到，過分關注不佳情緒的來源只會讓你感覺更糟。
Take the long view. You may have messed up at the moment or be going through a slump. You don’t have to feel this way forever. 要目光長遠。也許在某一時刻你把事情搞砸了，或者你在經歷一段低谷期，但這只是短時間的經歷，你不用一直都為此感到壓抑。
綜合來源：Psychology Today, Verywellmind, Psychcentral編輯：張曦實習：蘇豔雷
來源：China Daily