What is Imposter Syndrome?
Imposter Syndrome is a psychological phenomenon where individuals doubt their accomplishments and feel fear that they will be uncovered as a “fraud”. Despite an abundance of evidence to support the contrary, the fear remains present. Imposter syndrome can be characterized by four attributes:
Self-doubt
Fear of exposure
Perfectionism
Attributing success to external factors
Many people who are confronted with imposter syndrome will be able to rationalize that their accomplishments are simply by chance or by luck, resulting in a misattunement between one’s own successes as a result of hard work and a dismissal of the hard work.
Research has shown that imposter syndrome leads to emotional distress, including anxiety and depression. Additionally, imposter syndrome has been linked to professional burnout and reduced job performance. One example of how imposter syndrome may present itself would be in the day-to-day workings of a professional, in which they begin to question their qualifications and usefulness (despite having all of the proper qualifications to complete the job). For example, a psychotherapist may question why clients keep coming back to see them and doubt their own intelligence. This may lead to feelings of guilt or even shame on a belief that the therapist is scamming the client out of money.
Have YOU ever experienced imposter syndrome?
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Psychological and Behavioural Symptoms of Imposter Syndrome
Chronic Self-Doubt: doubting your own abilities to complete tasks
Fear of Exposure: thinking that you will be deemed a fraud
Perfectionism: holding yourself to excessively high standards
Attributing Success to External Factors: thinking that success is due to luck or timing
Overworking: in an attempt to compensate for one’s own inadequacies, overworking, sometimes to the point of burnout
Discounting Praise: unable to take positive feedback
Fear of Failure: an intense fear of making mistakes or failing, leading to procrastination of completing challenging tasks
Avoidance: avoiding new opportunities or challenges
Emotional Symptoms of Imposter Syndrome
Anxiety: persistent worry about performance
Depression: feelings of sadness, worthlessness, and hopelessness stemming from self-doubt
Guilt: feeling guilty for “deceiving” others
Shame: shame or embarrassment about one’s perceived lack of ability
Social Symptoms of Imposter Syndrome
Reluctance to Seek Help: avoiding asking for help in fear that their perceived inadequacies will be uncovered
Isolation: withdrawing from social situations to avoid potential exposure as a fraud
Comparing Self to Others: feeling inadequate when comparing to others
Treatment Options for Imposter Syndrome
Mindfulness and Self-Compassion
Mindfulness is the act of focusing on the present moment, rather than engaging with thoughts oriented to the past or future. Mindfulness takes a stance of non-judgement, and helps us engage with our thoughts and the world clearly for what it is. Self-compassion involves treating oneself through a lens of kindness. One of the best ways to cultivate self-compassion is to begin by giving yourself three compliments every day. While this may be difficult at first, eventually the brain begins to recognize the repetition as something needed to be stored in memory. One exercise to engage in mindfulness is the five-senses exercise where you count five things you can taste, smell, see, hear, and touch.
Goal Setting and Growth Mindset
By understanding first where you are and where you want to be, you can begin setting goals for yourself for success. Begin this by setting realistic, achievable goals, and tracking your progress towards these goals. By adopting a growth mindset, one understands that growth is a result of effort and continuous work, highlighting how hard you have worked to be where you are.
Self-Care
Self-care in general is beneficial for all facets of mental health. Engaging in your favourite activities such as drinking tea, having a bath, going on a walk, watching your favourite movie, reading a book, playing a videogame, etc. is crucial to relaxing the central nervous system and cultivating feelings of joy and calm.
Reducing Perfectionism
Perfectionism is often seen as relating closely to anxiety. A reduction in both symptoms of anxiety and perfectionism can alleviate the pressure of imposter syndrome. The best way to accomplish this is by re-evaluating one’s standards and making them more realistic and attainable. Additionally, learning to accept and learn from one’s mistakes while simultaneously decreasing self-criticism will help to alleviate this pressure. A mental health professional via individual therapy or support groups can help support you through this process.
Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy
Since Imposter Syndrome is highly cognitive in nature, one of the best therapeutic interventions is that of cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT), which aims to target negative/unhelpful thinking patterns and alter them. By altering the thought patterns, one may alter the behavioural pattern associated with it. Specifically, CBT would target thoughts surrounding a person’s abilities and accomplishments and use behavioural experiments to increase feelings of satisfaction in one’s abilities to accomplish tasks. CBT with an experienced therapist will involve an increase in psychoeducation around topics such as shame, guilt, depression, and anxiety, and help to recognize and understand the underlying thought patterns that are occurring.
Written by: Jason Taylor, MA, Ph.D.(cand.), RP, CSTIP
References
Bravata, D. M., Watts, S. A., Keefer, A. L., Madhusudhan, D. K., Taylor, K. T., Clark, D. M., Nelson, R. S., Cokley, K. O., & Hagg, H. K. (2020). Prevalence, predictors, and treatment of impostor syndrome: A systematic review. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 35, 1252-1275. doi:10.1007/s11606-019-05364-1
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