[AlexandrB]

I was in this state a year ago and I found that external self-esteem boosters are pretty useless. The nagging self-doubt still lingers no matter what others say.

What I found helped was doing the task equivalent of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debt-snowball_method - starting with a list of stuff I wanted to do/improve I did the easiest[1]/fastest things first. This builds confidence quickly and you can start working up to harder tasks - it also keeps you focused on nice short term goals, which reduces how much you worry about the big problems.

Not sure if this helps... good luck.

[1] I literally had things like "buy new shirt" in the list that were very easy, but we're constantly getting forgotten/put off because of the constant worry about the big problems.

[deffibaugh]

Thanks a lot I will have to try this. I have started using todo lists and they have seemed to help. I do worry I might be slightly depressed. However, I think this problem is something different because I have not had any problems with meeting people and making new friends recently. Quite the contrary actually. Did you happen to smoke a lot of marijuana before this onset? I really think the intense reflection I do while high led to my conscious mind getting stuck somehow... I am just theorizing though.

[AlexandrB]

I did not smoke marijuana, but I tend to fall into a state of intense reflection when I'm stressed and at some point I wasn't able to come back out even though the stress went away.

My biggest cause of stress is procrastination. When I put off things I need to do I stress myself out and then start down this path - maybe that's why the todo list thing helped.