Imposter Syndrome is a term used more frequently in today’s society, but what does it actually mean? Imposter Syndrome is the name given when someone is constantly having feelings that they don’t belong, they aren’t good enough, they are a fraud in their everyday life and that their achievements in life are due to luck and not because of the effort they put in or the qualifications they have. It is estimated that 70% of people experience imposter feelings during their life and imposter syndrome can affect anyone, regardless of career, class, qualifications or experiences. 

You may feel these feelings in your work life, that you aren’t good enough for your role, or in everyday life, you fear those around you, maybe even with friends and family will find you out to be a ‘fraud’. These feelings occur as you don’t believe you are as competent, successful or worthy as others perceive you to be. If these feelings get worse over time, and start to affect your day-to-day life this may lead to problems with anxiety or depression. Especially as those who are experiencing imposter syndrome are less likely to talk about how they are feeling. 

Imposter syndrome has been characterised by certain behaviours and internal thought processes, these include: self-doubt, inability to assess your own competence and skills, fear of not living up to expectations, thinking your successes are down to external factors and self-sabotage.  

While this disorder can affect many different people from a variety of lifestyles, researchers have identified personality types and lifestyles of people which may make them more susceptible to developing imposter syndrome, these include: 

The Perfectionist:  They focus a lot on their mistakes rather than their successes. These people are never satisfied with themselves and set extremely high expectations for themselves, if they fail to meet these standards, they feel extreme guilt and failure. 

The Superhero:  These people will push themselves to work as hard as they possibly can, they are convinced that they are not good enough so work overload to prove to those around them that they are worthy. 

The Expert: These people never feel like they know enough information. They base their self-worth on how much they know and how smart they are. These people may also fear asking for help due to the fact they do not want to appear unknowledgeable. 

The Natural Genius: These people base their competence on how fast they can achieve something rather than the effort they put into it, if they think something is taking too long for them to learn or achieve then they will feel like a failure. 

The Soloist:  These people do not like asking others for help as they believe that is a sign of weakness. They are very independent people and believe their self-worth is dependent on how productive they are.

The cause for Imposter Syndrome is not known, many do believe it is due to individuals personality types, those being more anxious being more susceptible, while others believe it is due to external factors such as family and their upbringing. For example, pressure to get good marks on exams when you are younger or people in your life making you not feel good enough, it is believed people internalise this and it comes out in anxiety disorders such as Imposter Syndrome. 

What can you do to make the feelings and thoughts of imposter syndrome quieter? This is hard but you need to confront some of your own internal beliefs. You could do this in a variety of ways such as; talking to friends and family about how you’re feeling, writing down your abilities and achievements, not overwhelming yourself with work or tasks instead take it easy and focus on getting one thing done at a time, stop comparing yourself to others and limit your social media use. These techniques are things you can do in your everyday life to hopefully make things easier. 

If you are experiencing these feelings of self-doubt, self-criticism and not being good enough, and they are affecting your everyday life daily then reach out to a therapist or your local GP for more help and information. Alternatively, you can book a free initial consultation and we can point you in the right direction to get the help you need.