IMPOSTER SYNDROME AND WHY SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE FEEL LIKE FRAUDS
You might have heard of the Imposter Syndrome, a term usually used to describe an experience of self-doubt of intellect skills or accomplishment associated most of the time with high achieving individuals.
People who experience it tend to perceive themselves as frauds and feeling incompetent. They often feel conflicted by the perception others hold of them, real-life accomplishments and their own perception of self. Unable to internalize their experiences of success, they experience self-doubt, anxiety, depression and fear of being exposed as frauds in their work environment.
WHAT DOES IMPOSTER SYNDROME FEEL LIKE?
Imposter syndrome is not merely another term used to describe lack of self-confidence or self-doubt. It is a complex phenomena that may include:
Anxiety associated with feeling exposed or seen as an imposter
Fear of being judged
Depression
Feeling like a fraud
Extreme fear of failure
A lack of ability to accurately estimate one’s accomplishments and assess one’s competencies
Feelings of guilt and shame related to being exposed or feeling undeserving of success
Self-doubt, feeling unworthy of one’s success
Perfectionism and the need to be the best, often leading to over-preparation
Low self-esteem
A harsh inner critic with a tendency to overfocus on one’s mistakes or shortcomings
Fundamental mistrust about whether one will be accepted for who they really are
Both fear of failure and fear of success which often leads to experiences of self-sabotage
A tendency to discount one’s intelligence, skill, competency
Imposter patterns often strike in moments of success and are more evident in academic and professional environments, affecting capable and competent individuals. The imposters may feel that their success was due to pure chance or to the capacity to deceit everyone, which will lead to over-working, as a need to prove oneself, and eventually burn-out or pursuing less ambitious goals and stopping oneself from reaching one’s true potential.
CAUSES
The imposter syndrome phenomenon is linked to a behaviour of seeking self-esteem or validation by trying to live up to an idealized image of self to compensate for feelings of insecurity and self-doubt.
The origin of the impostor syndrome is complex. It is usually linked to personality traits and our formative years - early experiences in invalidating environments or family backgrounds where support was lacking, communication and behaviour was controlled by rules and considerable conflict was present. The person might grow up experiencing a need to please others, especially in a context where adequate support for the child’s feelings and development was lacking, developing a “false self” to receive validation. In adulthood this false self is likely to carry over as insecurity about one’s sense of self or identity, often felt as imposter syndrome in successful achievers. Other times, family environments where positive validation or attention was linked to intellectual and academic accomplishments and achievements can lead to similar outcomes. Being smart or getting good grades became a way of securing parent’s love and affection and later in life becomes a way of attempting to attain a sense of self as being worthy of attention, care, love
HOW CAN THERAPY HELP?
Psychotherapy can help you uncover the dynamics that keep in place and perpetuate the impostor syndrome patterns. It can be a safe space to explore difficult emotions and painful past experiences, while having the therapeutic relationship as a secure base. It can help you understand unconscious, systemic, and developmental factors underlying the impostor experience and gain emotional awareness and insight into conflicts and patterns.
While the imposter syndrome experience and the origin stories can be very different from person to person, there is an underlying sense of isolation and loneliness in everyone’s experience. Therapy can be way of feeling less alone in your struggle.