Sel Plus

Do you believe that having body issues is sometimes justified??

I've just psycho-analyzed myself and got to the conslusion that I have slightly low selfesteem because I have body issues, and I believe that they are justified because it's not because I'm fat or anything it's because I was born with a heart problem and had open heart surgury when I was 11 months old so I have 5 scars on my chest and stomach. But thats not even the problem, i actually like the scars, the thing is that since they had to crack open my chest; apparently when the put it back together it was left a little uneven so the left side of my chest is slightly "pushed in" so to speak and my chest looks uneven and I thought I was ok with that but I just came to realize that I'm actually not. Plus to all that I had a chest tube on my left side at one point and I've been told that that insition cut my chest muscle so it's very hard to make it bigger to even out my chest So I was wondering if that is enough to have slightly low sel esteem or is just ridiculous to think like that.

Not ridiculous, but not helpful, either. Tell people who ask that it's a war injury and that you don't want to talk about it! Being battle-scarred and mysterious is "in".

I don't know if it applies to babies, but adults who have had open heart surgery often develop clinical depression. It wouldn't hurt to have your doctor refer you to a specialist to see if that may be your problem now. If so, it's fairly easily treatable.

Meanwhile, too much introspection can be a dangerous thing. Leave it to the pros, OK?

And congratulations on your survival!! You're a tough one, aren't you?