What Causes Imposter Syndrome?
The initial causes of imposter syndrome often come at a young age. And it often has to do with our relationship with primary caregivers or important adults in our lives. E.g A parenting style that is highly achievement-oriented and highly critical.
An early traumatic experience.
When children experience any kind of trauma, it’s not uncommon for them to develop a deep sense of shame and fundamental unworthiness in themselves—Consequently,when these children grow up, no matter how successful they are, this deep belief in their own unworthiness can manifest itself in the firm of imposter syndrome.
A fixed mindset. A fixed mindset refers to a person’s belief that their personality, talents, and abilities are relatively predetermined and fixed by nature and genetics. This means that any failure or mistake is often interpreted to be a sign of personal deficiency and low self-worth.
The maintaining causes of imposter syndrome happen in the present. And they often take the form of habits and behaviors that seem like coping skills but actually reinforce the imposter syndrome in the longterm.E.g
Reassurance-seeking: Reassurance-seeking is the habit of looking to others to alleviateyouranxietiesorinsecurities.Whilereassurance-seeking—andthereassurance you often get as a result—feel good in the moment, it tends to perpetuate imposter syndrome long-term. When you habitually look to other people for confidence and validation, you miss out on the opportunity to do so for yourself. And if you never validateyourself,you’llnevertrulybelievethatyou’recompetentenough.
Mind-reading: Mind-reading is the mental habit of assuming you know what other people are thinking, especially about you. When you imagine that people can see through you and see all your insecurities and doubts, you’re making assumptions based on your imagination rather than facts in real life. This leads to increased anxiety and other unhelpful habits like reassurance-seeking or catastrophizing.
Catastrophizing. Catastrophizing is the tendency to imagine worst-case scenarios As soon as some little mistake is made, for example, you quickly move from that to being severely reprimanded, losing your job, and never being able to find another one again. When you’re in the habit of catastrophizing, it leads to the feeling that everything is wrong and bad, which tends to exacerbate similar feelings in imposter syndrome.
What are the common types of imposter Syndrome?
Watch out for the next post.
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