Self esteem exercises

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I am looking for realistic, Aspie-centered self esteem programs to help me when I am the throes of depression; or at least, help mitigate the effects of my depression.

these aren't geared especially for aspies, but they helped me. "the self esteem companion" by mckay, fanning, et al and "the self esteem workbook" by schiraldi.

I don't use them as I don't believe in things like worthlessness or beating the self up. I moraly object to such an idea on the grounds of concerns about human rights. I get hopelessness and loneliness so am cheered up by a new hobby that seem brings the love I am missing into my life. Something I can become passionate about and absorb myself in. My mood may also be improved by new oportunities such as meeting someone I like or the possibility of going back to University (learning is the love of my life).

Good things happen to me rarely though.

Recently I have been cheered up by practicing on the piano and the Carry on movies.

Sorry I am not much help on the worthlessness front. When it comes to beating yourself up (if you experience that) try to kindly inspire yourself instead. Also try to understand that mistakes are a natural part of life and will happen sometimes, they do not mean that you are a bad or useless person at all. A mistake is just a learning curve and are actually sometimes necessary to help the person move forwards with their understanding in life.

LIfe is too short to be mean to yourself and as my mother used to say, the world will be mean enough to you anyway, you don't have to join in with them.

Okay, so these are not specifically for aspies, but they are effective.

I find EFT (this is simple to look up if you don't know what it is), and hypnotherapy both very helpful, and easy to practice at home.

EFT can be learned on YouTube, but I think it's much better to learn it from a practitioner. You should pick up how it works after a couple of sessions, or better yet you could go to a 1 day introductory workshop. You can practice it any time you have a few spare minutes. You can use it to help you deal with a specific issue, and/or to make positive affirmations to boost your self-esteem, or whatever else you might be in need of.

As for hypnotherapy, you can get self-hypnotherapy apps for smart-phones for free or incredibly cheap. These are amazingly relaxing, and often send me straight into a deep sleep if I listen to them at night, and I have found many that really work as advertised on me (there are apps to boost confidence, increase happiness, improve motivation, raise energy etc).