Dear reader,
Who are you?
No seriously, who do you even think you are?
This is a question that many high achievers find themselves asking at times, despite the countless number of wins stuffed firmly under their belts. There’s even a name for this type of thinking: Impostor Syndrome.
The impostor terminology dates back to a 1978 research paper penned by Pauline R. Clance and Suzanne A. Imes entitled “The Impostor Phenomenon in High Achieving Women: Dynamics and Therapeutic Intervention.”
To put in a nutshell, Impostor Syndrome is the fear of being found out as a phoney or a fraud.
The paper was a culmination of five years of research that surveyed a cross-section of successful and well-educated professionals. Despite their successes, several participants in the survey reported “generalized anxiety, lack of self-confidence, depression, and frustration related to inability to meet self-imposed standards of achievement.”
It appeared back then that the symptoms were far more prevalent in females than in males, but more recent studies show that the effects are much more evenly spread than previously thought. Numerous additional studies have been carried out since the original paper and it is now thought that as many as 70% of people will experience the syndrome at least once in their lifetime.
There is no clear cut tick list to diagnose a patient with Impostor Syndrome but the following indicators are typical of someone dealing with the syndrome:
Just as there is no single defining indicator, there is also no unique root cause to the syndrome that can be mapped out onto every patient’s case. As is the case with many psychological disturbances, patterns and events in our early formative years can have significant impacts on our behaviour further down the line.
There are though a couple of recurring family themes that seem to be commonly shared amongst those with Impostor Syndrome:
Natalie Portman, Michelle Obama, Tom Hanks. All images are in public domain.
There are numerous cases of well known and successful people who have begun opening up about their mental challenges. If you can identify with these symptoms then fear not as you’re actually in pretty good company:
“No matter what we’ve done, there comes a point where you think, ‘How did I get here? When are they going to discover that I am, in fact, a fraud and take everything away from me?’”
“I still have a little [bit of] impostor syndrome, it never goes away, that you’re actually listening to me. It doesn’t go away, that feeling that you shouldn’t take me that seriously. What do I know? I share that with you because we all have doubts in our abilities, about our power and what that power is.”
“Today, I feel much like I did when I came to Harvard Yard as a freshman in 1999. I felt like there had been some mistake, that I wasn’t smart enough to be in this company, and that every time I opened my mouth I would have to prove that I wasn’t just a dumb actress.”
“And I had impostor syndrome. For a long time my life was about being extremely self-critical and overthinking everything as a way of trying not to fall off the perch. It’s partially cultural. We grew up in a British culture of “If you’ve made it, then you’ve cheated.” There was all of that. Then you come to terms with everything in a good way with a fake smile, which was necessary to do. Or go mad.”
With all that being said, if you do identify with some or all of these emotions on a regular basis, don’t hesitate to get in touch with a mental health professional. Together you should be able to find the root cause of the syndrome and work upon rebuilding your self-esteem and belief in your abilities.
The key message to take home is that there is a way out of the syndrome and this begins by better understanding your past, reassessing your present, and building a brighter path for your future.
Talk to you next time (whoever you are),
JaseDMF
Cover image by Clem Onojeghuo on Pexels (modified)
Original content, copyright JaseDMF 2022. First published on Medium.
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