self-consciousness

#self-conscious
#embarrassed

Does the student often get embarrassed to raise their hands to engage in class discussions? Do they often react adversely to feedbacks, shy away from group activities or presentations? Do they easily get embarrassed?
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If you answered yes to any of these, then it sounds like they could be feeling self-conscious.

Self-consciousness is the tendency for someone to direct their attention towards themselves. There are three different types of self-consciousness:

Private self-consciousness – awareness of your inner thoughts and feelings.
Public self-consciousness – awareness of the public aspects of yourself, like your appearance
Social anxiety – concern about what people think of you or feeling uncomfortable around others

Each type of self-consciousness, like any mental illness, can be treated by identifying and understanding their own specific self-conscious habits and then working on their own, or with a psychologist, to apply strategies and/or mental exercises to help them over time reduce the degree of self-consciousness they're feeling.

To help you identify what type of self-consciousness students may have, read below for what current scientific research says is commonly associated each self-conscious type:
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Private Self-Consciousness

Feeling depressed or down
Often reflects on their feelings
Constantly think about their beliefs
Reflect on their behaviour (e.g., “Why did I do that?!”)
Not being easily fooled or coerced by others

Public Self-Consciousness

Conforming to what other people are doing
Having low self-esteem
Not wanting to take risks
Feeling anxious, especially around people or when thinking about situations involving others
Limits what their attitudes is about things when in public (e.g. won’t say how you really feel about someone with other people)
Wanting to always maintain a positive public image
Not acting positively or even aggressively, or expressing any aggression when feeling angry

Social Anxiety

Fearing being negatively judged by others in the classroom
Consciously avoiding attention to themselves and having any social interactions
Getting distressed when having to perform in front of large groups(e.g. public speaking)
Believing any social interaction will be a negative experience
Having difficulty working, studying, etc. when other people are involved or watching them

Hopefully now you have a better idea about self-consciousness and what type of self-consciousness students may be suffering from. Don’t worry if you think there is more than one type that you can see them having, this is completely normal.

If you think your student suffers from self-consciousness, click here to access MaxiMind’s tools for limiting their self-consciousness and maximising their mind. If you’re not sure or just want to talk about things further, then click here to book a time to talk with one of our friendly qualified psychologists.

And remember, if it’s an emergency, please call 000.

‍References

‍Panayiotou, G., Karekla, M., & Panayiotou, M. (2014). Direct and indirect predictors of social anxiety: The role of anxiety sensitivity, behavioral inhibition, experiential avoidance and self-consciousness. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 55(8), 1875-1882.

Charles S. Carver & David C. Glass (1976) The Self-Consciousness Scale: A Discriminant Validity Study, Journal of Personality Assessment, 40:2, 169-172.

Debra A. Hope & Richard G. Heimberg (1988) Public and Private Self Consciousness and Social Phobia, Journal of Personality Assessment, 52:4, 626-639.

Monfries, M. M., & Kafer, N. F. (1994). Private self-consciousness and fear of negative evaluation. Journal of Psychology, 128(4), 447.

Takishima-Lacasa, J. Y., Higa-McMillan, C. K., Ebesutani, C., Smith, R. L., & Chorpita, B. F. (2014, July 28). Self-Consciousness and Social Anxiety in Youth: The Revised Self-Consciousness Scales for Children. Psychological Assessment. Advance online publication.
Fenigstein, A., Scheier, M. F., & Buss, A. H. (1975). Public and private self-consciousness: Assessment and theory. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 43(4), 522–527.

Higa, C.K., Phillips, L.K., Chorpita, B.F. et al. The Structure of Self-Consciousness in Children and Young Adolescents and Relations to Social Anxiety. J Psychopathol Behav Assess 30, 261–271 (2008).

American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.).

Learn more about self-consciousness

how to be confident!

#confidence #self #esteem

Student's self-consciousness can be overcome by building their sense of self, self-esteem and self-confidence. They can do this by first working out what is causing them to be self-conscious. It is worth spending some time thinking about the situations, scenarios and people that may cause them to feel embarrassed, ashamed, stupid and / or judged.

Once they are aware of what is causing them to feel self-conscious, they can use strategies to manage their feelings of their self-consciousness.

Start by trying these strategies:
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Heart hugs – when they notice uncomfortable feelings of being self-conscious, tell them to hold your hand to their heart and give it a little rub or cuddle to give themselves some more self-compassion
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Things I love about me – make the class write down a list of 20 things that they love about themselves which can be physical characteristics and/or personality traits, and include anything from their toes to your tenacity!
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My strengths – think about what you are good at and what other people (e.g. friends, parents and teachers) tell you are your strengths and write a list down of your strengths
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Mood board – they can create a visual mood board of images that make them happy, remind them to think of good times and also their hopes and dreams for the future
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Daily affirmations – do affirmation activity with the class each morning, do 1-3 daily affirmations which are words that you want to be for the day (e.g. “I am strong”, “I am powerful”, “I am accomplished”) to and set the tone for the rest of the day. You can also print out and stick affirmations in the classroom walls.

Learn more about how to be more confident

sapping self-consciousness

#selflove #esteem #confidence

One time in class someone cracked a joke about the size of Poppy’s nose. Everyone laughed except for Poppy. She went home that day feeling down about herself. From that day, she found that when she scrolled through a model’s Instagram, she would fixate on their noses and compare them to hers. Every time she talked to someone, she wondered if they were looking and thinking about the size of her nose. She wouldn’t answer questions in class because she couldn’t stand everyone looking at her. Soon her feelings and inner thoughts of self-consciousness started to impact her school experience and social life.

Poppy’s story is not an uncommon one. There are times when students all have negative feelings towards themselves that leave them questioning their self-worth, limiting their true potential. This is known as self-consciousness. These feelings of self-doubt and judgement are all too common in young people who are just trying to find their way in the world. That’s because they are continually trying to make sense of who they are and their place in the world, so every interaction with other people, the media, and the environment all contributes to their sense of self. There are many situations such as Poppy’s where these experiences go awry and damage their feelings of self. What a lot of people don’t realise or acknowledge is that how they feel on the inside can very often impact how they feel on the outside. When they have thoughts about how people perceive them, they can eventually start sharing these thoughts. Their thoughts of “I’m not good enough” can start slipping into “They didn’t invite me because they don’t think I’m good enough to hang out with them”.

Knowing how common these experiences are and how impactful they are on our general wellbeing, why don’t we find ways of healing and seek help as we would with any physical pain? We see a doctor when our body hurts, a dentist when our teeth hurt… but what about when our hearts hurt? Just because it’s invisible doesn’t mean it’s any less important in our journey towards wellbeing. Feelings of self-consciousness in students can be managed in ways that have been scientifically proven and shown to be effective in practice… but it can be scary for them to ask for help. That’s why there are ways to get them to access the help they need in a less daunting but just as effective way.

MaxiMinds can be a tool to help students do so, to help them in their journey of self-discovery and growth, and teach them steps towards building confidence and self-love. MaxiMinds offers blog posts talking through different types of feelings like when they're feeling down, lost, unsure or anxious. Blog posts not only provide information and tools grounded by research, but serve to help people realise: “Hey, you’re not alone on this journey!”

‍Strategies such as working on daily affirmations and listing key strengths are also activities that can be done at home to boost confidence. When they'r ready to take the next step, an online session with a psychologist is available to discuss anything from their feelings to what steps they can take next. Cognitive behaviour therapy tools are effective ways to approach mental and emotional health issues and have been shown to be just as effective when delivered online.

Want to learn more about self-consciousness and other emotions? Information on tools to help students manage negative feelings and general information on mental health can be found here. MaxiMinds is here to help students become their best selves, starting from within!

Learn more about sapping self-consciousness

MaxiMinds is not an emergency mental health service. If you or someone you know are in urgent need of help, please present to the emergency department at your nearest hospital or contact the following mental health crisis teams.

Emergency 000 | Mental Health Line 1800 011 511 | Lifeline 13 14 11