@curious4709,
To answer your question about 'they do so because they aren't at peace with themselves', I would tenatively agree with the person who said it...but I would say it in a different way.
My observation is that people with very high self esteem:
- almost never feel the need to put another person down
- are usually more considerate, because they know other peoples journeys differ, and that each persons strengths and weaknesses differ (so, just because they are strong in an area another isn't, isn't reason criticism)
- are much harder to offend (because they
check the criticism against their principles and values, then trust their own judgement)
I see self esteem as differing from ego in a very important way:
- self esteem is what you think of yourself, because of yourself (ie you admire traits A, B, C, D, in human beings, and you have, or work to acquire traits A,B,C and D. You now possess traits within yourself that you find admirable, and no one can ever take from you)
- ego is what you think of yourself because other people tell you so. Because of this, people who rely on ego, are much more sensitive to criticism (criticism then triggers the fight, flight, or freeze response. When 'fight' is triggered, and it gets nasty, you know a self esteem issue...see above)
My obersvations here in Australia is that general self-esteem within the populace is quite low. I notice that those from European countries where family is very important tend to have higher self esteem (than the general populace here). Same with those from countries where manners are very important. And the same with people from very poor countries that still allow a livelihood (as in, to be able to live from their own means - so this includes island communities with little western contact). These environments are consistent with what builds self esteem within humans. If you start naming traits you admire, you will very likely understand why.
Although bullying occurs, trying to stop bullying by educating the bully is not particularly effective (for the effort it takes). By far much more effective is training people how to stand up for themselves, respectfully (a person doing so reduces bullying, and helps build self esteem)
Rather than a forum, I would suggest you start reading (and putting into practice what you learn, even if you fall down multiple times - everything takes time to learn), or obtain coaching to help you resolve this issue.
Counselling can help - mostly to help reduce the stress and feeling of alone ness. But it is the actions that you take towards the petty nastiness that will vastly determine what track your life goes (with regards to this subject)
Hope it helps some