Have you ever experienced a feeling of not deserving the opportunity that’s come your way, thinking ‘why am I here’ and questioning ‘how long will I be here until they find out that I don’t know what I am doing or that I don’t deserve to be here?’.
There’s a name for that feeling: impostor syndrome.
The truth is, most people have felt impostor syndrome to some degree, at some point in their lives.
But what does it mean to have impostor syndrome? Why does it happen and how can we resolve it?
What is impostor syndrome?
Impostor syndrome is a phenomenon in which individuals feel a mixture of inadequacy, incompetency and inability to overcome a strong sense of fraudulency, despite clear evidence of their worthiness, success and achievements.
This is mainly related to intellect but has recently been extended to social contexts too.
It is not included in the International Classification of Disease (ICD-10) and therefore is not classified as a mental disorder. However, traits tied to impostor syndrome are also seen in anxiety and depression, such as low self-esteem, chronic self-doubt and a persistent sense of failure.
In 1978, the psychologists Pauline Rose Clance and Suzanne Imes, first theorised that impostor syndrome occurs amongst high achievers who have difficulty accepting their successes, due to believing that the opportunity was only given to them by luck or chance. It was not often voiced or discussed, due to an irrational fear that their ‘inability’ would then be revealed.
How common is impostor syndrome?
Clance’s book in 1985 brought impostor syndrome to public attention, where he initially theorised that this phenomenon was predominantly experienced by high-achieving women.
But this has since been understood to occur in both men and women, of different backgrounds and across different professional settings.
Interestingly, a number of studies found impostor syndrome to occur frequently among ethnic minorities. One study went as far as to say that impostor syndrome at work was a bigger player in mental health issues than the stress from their minority status.
The largest systematic review published in Gen Intern Med 2020, reviewed the literature across 62 studies covering 14,000 participants and found that the rates of impostor syndrome varied quite significantly from 9% to 82%. The variation was unfortunately due to individual studies utilising different screening tools and having different cut off points for diagnosis.
But it is generally assumed that about 70% of the population have suffered from omposter phenomenon, as cited in the Journal of Behavioural Sciences.
What’s the science behind impostor syndrome?
The science behind impostor syndrome is very complex and also scarce. There is an overlay of evolutionary, biological, neurological, psychological, and social factors at play.
These include the evolutionary factors of the ‘anticipatory flight mechanism’ (wanting to leave before danger occurs), the biological role of chronic stressors on our brain and resultant hormonal releases, the psychological traits of obsessive-compulsive disorder, perfectionism or insecurities, demanding family structures , the social factors of stressful work environments and the ability to compare yourself with more people than ever before due to the digital age and social media.
What are the signs you’re experiencing impostor syndrome?
New challenges or opportunities can often trigger impostor syndrome and that can be for a limited time, but in a social context, for example, where you have a high achieving sibling, that feeling can be lifelong.
There are three key elements to impostor syndrome:
- a sense of being a fraud
- fear of being discovered
- difficulty accepting your success
These elements can go onto affect different aspects of an individual’s life. From reduced work performance, limiting their roles and responsibilities, avoiding job progression, dissatisfaction with their job and an increased risk of burnout.
People with depression and anxiety are certainly more at risk of suffering from impostor syndrome, but conversely, the perpetual cycle of self-doubt and fear can also lead to mental health issues.
Anxiety can manifest around certain people, situations and tasks. Depression occurs with impostor syndrome, as it affects your self-confidence, mood and outlook.
If you think you might be suffering from impostor syndrome, you can take this short test to find out.
How can we tackle impostor syndrome?
There are a few important ways to tackle impostor syndrome, that can involve the individual, the employer and healthcare providers.
On an individual level, it’s important to be aware of the symptoms of impostor syndrome in order to identify it and seek the required help if it’s overwhelming you.
Talk about it with others. This allows you to gain a more objective assessment of the situation and hopefully allows you to view the irrationalities of your perception. Talking to a friend, family member or even colleague may be very useful as together you share experiences and learnings.
Develop a healthy response to making mistakes. As Arianna Huffington said, ‘Failure is not the opposite of success, it’s part of success.’
Understand that these thoughts are negative and unproductive and challenge them. You can do this by celebrating your achievements, no matter how small and taking the time to properly reflect on your past successes.
Employers can develop and implement training and development to be able to recognise and support their staff. Improving self-esteem and confidence amongst staff, will lead to improved job satisfaction, longer retention and better outcomes. This can be in the way of structured training or unstructured activities such as mentoring.
Often because individuals with impostor syndrome internalise their feelings for lack of confidence or for fear of being caught out – they incorrectly believe that they are the only ones feeling this way, leading to more isolation. Mentoring and group sessions provide a much-needed outlet to help combat these feelings.
Some experts believe that impostor syndrome should be included on the ICD-10. This way there can be a clear documented approach amongst health professionals on how to manage and correctly follow-up patients who feel like this.
If this article resonates with you and you recognise these symptoms in yourself, and you feel like it’s getting in the way of your progress- it’s worthwhile speaking to your doctor, who can rigorously assess your mental health as well as refer you for counselling or therapy, where you can share your experiences in a safe, open environment.
To learn more about little actions you can do that make a big difference to your overall health and wellness, follow @lifeofdrkandi on Instagram.
To chat about mental health in an open, non-judgmental space, join our Mentally Yours Facebook group.
Follow us on Twitter at @MentallyYrs.
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