Skip to main content Skip to bottom nav

Why do I feel so inferior and worthless and useless all the time?

182 Answers
Last Updated: 09/02/2020 at 10:18am
Why do I feel so inferior and worthless and useless all the time?
★ This question about Depression was starred by a moderator on 5/12/2016.
1 Tip to Feel Better
United States
Moderated by

Andrea Tuck, LCPC

Licensed Professional Counselor

I tackle and discuss a multitude of social and emotional health issues. I have a belief that through empowerment and non-judgmental support clients' can thrive.

Top Rated Answers
Anonymous - Expert in Depression
September 16th, 2015 11:03am
Stop measuring your value on someone else's inability to see it. Why be someone else when you can be you? You're one of a kind, irreplaceable, and impossible to replicate. Do you know what that means? You're priceless. No amount of gold or money can ever match you, because no one on the planet's history or future will be just like you. So stop hating your beautiful amazing perfections and imperfections because without those quirks you wouldn't be you. Be confident and love who you are. Smile. It will draw people in.
goldenLight64
March 24th, 2015 10:26am
You may feel this way because of the way you have been treated in the past. A pattern has been set in your mind and you have to break it. Do things to help yourself. Acknowledge your accomplishments, Practice talking positively about yourself - out loud, give back to your community or friends and family by doing things for others - you'll feel good about it, write down things your grateful for - try to do that every day to remind you of the positive parts in your life. You can recondition yourself. You can break this cycle.
SalParadise
September 19th, 2015 5:18am
you have lived with yourself all along, every hour of every day. so every single mistake, every single bad time, you have been there to witness it, so of course at first sight you may seem to have made more mistakes than all the people you know altogether. another fact is, that even if you are smiling on the outside, you always know when things are going bad for you. its impossible to know what is going through everybody else's head, but just as our mistakes seem so big in our lives, it may not appear that way in other's eyes. give yourself a chance, you never know how much a person may be needing your company or how important you may actually be for them;
Airemu
December 19th, 2015 11:54am
This may be because you still haven't found what you want do in future and doesn't love the things you are doing now.
FirmThoughts
January 2nd, 2016 5:44pm
Simple, because you don't feel any appreciation from anyone. Particularly love, Inferiority is always present if someone isn't being recognized or known. But if you'll just widen your understanding, you will realize that inferiority is just a characteristic that our mind's generating. Therefore, it is just the state of mind that gives us the idea that we have no purpose at all but in due time if you found happiness, you'll be motivated to pursue something that you love again.
specialOcean14
June 4th, 2016 9:16pm
Don't worry. I understand that normally for a person to feel inferior and worthless, they must have been surrounded by people who have bullied them, put them down and ill treated them. I feel the past experiences in life were bitter and has taken a toll on the individual's self esteem or self worth. It has to do with the environment. I feel you are judging yourself harshly. you think you have not achieved anything in life and you compare yourself to others. I would love you to do things that will boost your self esteem. I can help you with that .
DexterKMScobee
September 24th, 2015 1:15pm
Well, I can say one thing. It's not because of your heart. It's your mind. See, your mind likes to play tricks on you. Make you believe unbelievable things. You are amazing. Take control of your mind and thoughts. I know you can.
Anonymous
September 25th, 2015 12:49am
This is the kind of question that someone--hopefully a health professional--would need more information to answer. You may be depressed, or someone may have been bullying or abusing you, or you may have life circumstances that are very overwhelming and discouraging, or you may even have some kind of physical illness that causes the symptoms of depression.
HelpWisely
October 24th, 2015 8:18am
One of the main reasons could be that you are always comparing yourself, your success, your abilities, your looks, etc with others like your friends or co-workers and the result is that you never feel that you can match up to them. This results is your being hard on youself, putting yourself down and feeling the negative aspects of yourself instead of accepting yourself and loving and discovering who you really are.
paperCrane15
September 10th, 2015 8:53am
We all live in a society and contact with other people every day. Everyone is trying to do his or her best to achieve the results they want by doing things they have to or want to do like studies, work e t.c. So there is no way we can ignore those people who are around us, we see them, talk to them and very often we compare ourselves with them, sometimes even without paying attention to it (like automatically). And when we look at them, we can have some thoughts like: "These person is better than me" or "He or her is so talented / clever / looks so happy / has a lot of friends" e t.c. So, by comparing ourselves with others we start to feel bad, or even worthless. We might think that we're not as good as these people surrounding us. The main thing here is that every single person has his or her own worries, limitations and complexes. And those who you compare with yourself can think the same way as you do by looking at you and feeling not good enough as they want to be.
Anonymous
June 30th, 2015 1:25am
You probably feel that way because you are depressed. You are not useless. There is hope, stay strong.
MissSatan
December 24th, 2015 4:17pm
I feel that way because I thought I'd been fighting so long for an impossible goal, but I couldn't give up. I was afraid of giving up. I wanted to continue forward, but I thought that I was reaching for a goal that was never there. I felt like no matter how hard I tried, nothing would ever change.
SolomLovesyou
September 13th, 2015 9:52am
I used to feel like this whenever I don't feel loved, I tried to find new friends and a GF, this helped me very much and made me feel that I'm needed and wanted. I also started adding more useful activities in my life, like helping people out here on 7cups. Made me feel much better all that.
Anonymous
September 26th, 2015 7:08am
I often feel inferior and worthless when I'm around people who are hurtful to me. When I notice that I'm feeling this way, I try to step back and decide is this me? or is this what others are saying to me? If it's me, I try to change things up. If it's because I'm listening to others, I often step away from those people for a while.
GoodVibes8
August 22nd, 2015 9:52am
I'm really sorry you feel that way! Lack of self esteem is a very common symptom of depression. You can start by trying to identify what's causing your feelings. It could be internal (depression) or it could be an external source. What thoughts do you have when you're feeling like this? When do you usually experience these feelings? Answering those questions for yourself is a good start to figuring out your triggers, or what specific things/people cause you to feel this way. Good luck!
Esmeralda1
September 2nd, 2015 4:56am
There's maybe a current memory that happened in the past that you can't overcome.Maybe because you're isolating yourself from those who would anything for you.To your loved ones,You're the person that they would do anything for.You are not worthless nor useless..,None is.
Anonymous
February 27th, 2018 1:02am
It's probely cause of past experience and you might have depression which can cause these kind of feelings
Anonymous
September 5th, 2015 6:13pm
Maybe you need to be involved with something you like. Sometimes whenever you're left alone with your thoughts it can lead you to this kind of thing. Try doing something that makes you feel good, that makes you feel worthy and useful. Try surrounding yourself with great friends and positivity.
Anonymous
September 6th, 2015 3:31pm
Your brain is trying to feed you lies. Don't let it! Remain positive and strong in who you are as a person! You are worthy ot love and life!
EmmaCanHelp
September 10th, 2015 10:00pm
Maybe these feelings comes out from less achievement and wasting time, try to do something makes you feel successful person because you're no different than any other successful person alive !
Loga45
August 23rd, 2015 7:43pm
We tend to compare ourselves to other people. We are all different, and that's why we are never going to have the same things other people have, or why we aren't going to do, think, behave like them. We think it's our fault we are not like them, but, what's the problem about being jus different? I think our differnces are magical
Justaoifethingss
September 12th, 2015 10:44am
It depends on the situation. If you have a mental illness, it's possible that it feeds you lies, like that you're inferior, worthless and useless. Toxic relationships can also do this to you. Know that both are lying and that you're amazing
Kash
September 23rd, 2015 10:33am
I think at some point we all feel inferior and we all have our self doubts. It's very natural to feel that way but what it shouldn't do is make you completely blind of you're worth here. Nobody's worthless. We all have the power to change for the better and to contribute in this world. And you are not an exception. Stay strong, dear.
Azil90
December 20th, 2015 8:57pm
This happens because we always push ourselves so hard. We are forgiving to others because we want to love them and feel loved in return, but that kind of compassion goes away when we look at ourselves. We always expect our best side to show up, which of course isn't always the case. We are only human, after all.
Ginieboops
September 27th, 2015 3:37pm
There are a lot of reasons for this, over thinking, chemical imbalance, over acting per frontal cortex, or the way people have been treating you, to figure this out it'll help to talk through the feeling and why and when they came up.
frazzledtodazzled
August 30th, 2015 7:50am
We all experience feelings of inferiority and worthlessness from time to time. Even though our feelings are completely real to us sometimes what we feel is not the truth. It's important to know that no one is a worthless person and we are all important for different reasons.
Anonymous
January 3rd, 2016 2:02pm
You may feel this way because of past experiences that created a pattern which caused you to feel this way, and another thing is you try to make people happy but they don't show that they are happy and that they appreciate you so you feel this way. So to prevent this, try to acknowledge your accomplishments and try to surround yourself with people who make you feel happy and appreciated not the people who make you sad, unappreciated and insecure. Wake up everyday and be grateful and just enjoy your life
calmJoy47
September 30th, 2015 2:00am
Everybody has negative thoughts about them self. There are many reasons for this, but everyone has the choice as to how much power we give these thoughts. When we identify with our negative thoughts, in a sense we BECOME those thoughts. When we tell our self positive thoughts we eventually can BECOME those as well. Sometimes this takes practice or the help of another person to get the ball rolling, but it is well worth it in the end.
Anonymous
September 3rd, 2015 3:54am
It's okay :). Everyone gone through this part in their lives. Stay happy becuase someone loves you :).
Anonymous
September 19th, 2015 3:38pm
Maybe you have depression. That sounds like what you have. Try going to a doctor or someone to help you.