People with Imposter Syndrome often feel like imposters. They feel like they are living a fake life. They tend to be terrified that one day someone will figure out that they don’t actually belong. If you are constantly finding yourself in self-doubt even in areas where you mostly excel, you might have imposter syndrome. People with this syndrome often deal with constant nervousness and fear that people may find out that their achievements are fake and that their achievements are not because of their efforts.
Imposter syndrome, which is also known as fraud syndrome and impostrism was first described in 1978 by Suzanne Imes, Ph. D. as an observation among successful women and most successful professionals. According to research done by the National Library of Medicine, Imposter syndrome is not a diagnosed mental illness.
Imposter syndrome can put a strain on mental health. Starting with nervousness, anxiety, fear, to even symptoms of depression. It can be maintained by cognitive behavioural changes. The common behaviour of a person with Imposter syndrome is achieving more and more success which makes Imposter syndrome directly correlate to more achievement and success. But that is not a good thing as instead of celebrating people with imposter syndrome suffer by trying to put more and more effort.
Below we will reveal some of the most common factors that lead to Imposter syndrome and how to manage them.
Table of Contents
What Are the Different Types of Imposter Syndrome?
There are 5 types of Imposter syndromes depending on their characteristics. While the types show different characteristics, they all make one feel like a fraud and force them to question their achievements and self-worth.
The Perfectionist
Perfectionists always have expectations by keeping high standards for tasks that are almost impossible to achieve. Perfectionists have a habit of always pursuing flawlessness, resulting in excessive self-criticism, anxiety, and burnout. You might feel, unless you have done the absolute perfect, you could have done better. The perfectionist traits might make you feel you are not as good enough as others think you are.
Signs you might be a perfectionist:
- You micromanage everything
- You obsess over small details
- You have high standards and unrealistic expectations
- You have a fear of failure for making small mistakes
The Expert
The Expert Imposter Syndrome is more common among people who have acquired skills in a particular area and generally lead in a particular field. People with high qualification backgrounds, advanced degrees, and professionals such as doctors, lawyers, and scientists fall prey to Expert imposter syndrome. They often feel like an imposter when they feel they don’t know everything there is to know about a particular subject or topic or that they haven’t mastered every step in their areas of expertise.
One might show below symptoms having the expert imposter syndrome:
- Feeling a need to master everything
- Feeling like a fraud despite having expertise in your field
- Struggling with procrastination due to overwhelming
The Natural Genius
In this type, one may feel like an imposter or a fraud simply because they don’t believe they are naturally intelligent or competent. If they can not get something right on the first try or if it requires them long to master a skill, they start questioning their ability and feel like a fraud.
Symptoms that you may have The Natural Genius Imposter Syndrome:
- You believe Success comes inherently and not from hard work and practice
- You have difficulty facing failure
- You have very high standards for yourself
The Superhuman
While perfectionist always wants to get better, superhumans want to do more and more. It makes one believe that they must work harder than everyone else and achieve the highest and if they don’t get there they feel like a fraud.
Symptoms that you may have The Superhuman Imposter Syndrome:
- You feel stressed when you are not working
- You feel guilty for taking a break and enjoying leisure activities
- You don’t handle constructive criticism well
The Soloist
The Soloist often feels a need for independence and the need to achieve success entirely on their own. It feels like a crime to them to ask for help. Since they can not get there on their own, they question their abilities.
Symptoms that you may have The Soloist Imposter Syndrome:
- Feeling like you have to accomplish everything on your own
- Struggling to network
- Feeling incompetent when help is needed
How do I know if I have Imposter Syndrome?
As per Suzanne Imes, originally Imposter syndrome was described to be found originally in successful women. However, Imposter syndrome can be experienced by anyone despite their gender, state of success and work background. You can identify whether you might have imposter syndrome, by noticing these factors in yourself:
Not Attributing your success to effort
People with imposter syndrome tend to feel their success is due to external factors and luck. They tend to assume that their success or achievements happened by chance not giving enough credit to their own efforts.
Attributing to others’ success to their hard work
This is where People with Imposter syndrome flip the switch and become biased to referring others’ success to their hard work. They think others achieved because they deserved it and can not think that nepotism, politics, or fraud might be involved in their success.
Emphasis on pleasing others
People with Imposter syndrome are highly concerned with external validation. How people think of their achievement matters the most to them and to please them they can do twice the hard work to get validation that they are in fact deserving.
What Exactly Does a Person with Imposter Syndrome Feel?
While Imposter syndrome has not been proven to be a diagnosed illness. It can anyway take a toll on our mental health and hamper our daily activities. Even though Imposter Syndrome can force one to push their limit and achieve success, it comes with harmful adaptions.
People with imposter syndrome might miss out on joy in life becoming more and more goal-oriented. Due to the characteristic of Imposter syndrome, even when success and achievements come, instead of celebrating they are fixated on getting more and more done. People pleasing being the most contributing factor, they rely on external validation and a sense of approval from their peers, friends, and family. When these expectations of external validation are not met, they feel they are not worth it.
Even though it might feel like a lot to deal with, Imposter syndrome can be managed by adopting simple behavioral changes. We shall discuss the coping methods next.
How to cope with Imposter Syndrome?
Imposter Syndrome can be easily managed by developing a sense of pride in our own achievements. You can simply question yourself by asking “What can I be proud of that I did today?”
Remembering Luck is not always the factor that leads to our achievements and our little efforts that we neglect often (Studying for an exam for countless hours, working extra hours continuously to finally get a promotion, putting most of our time and energy into mastering a particular skill) are always the contributing factors to our achievement and success.
Coping with Imposter syndrome takes challenging your negative thinking pattern, building self-confidence, seeking help when needed, and practising self-care.
Challenging Negative Thoughts
Pay attention to self-critical thoughts and beliefs you have for yourself. When comparing your achievements with another try thinking, maybe they got lucky too.
Acknowledging your achievements
Finding gratitude towards yourself in your own efforts is a great way to start. Cherish your smallest achievements and remember how exactly you achieved them (This time not giving all the credit to luck).
Practice Self Compassion
Practicing self-compassion not only helps you recognize your achievements but also boosts your confidence level. In case you are dealing with low self-esteem, you can read more on how to build Unshakable self-esteem.
Seek Feedback
Seeking Feedback from mentors and supervisors or peers who can provide an objective perspective to your work. Use constructive criticism to grow out of your fears rather than letting it control you.
Limit Social media consumption
Excessive use of social media results in self-comparison. Try limiting your social media usage or any external factors that might be a direct correlation to people pleasing and proving yourself to others. If you are an excessive social media user, you can try Digital Detoxing.
Practice mindfulness
Practising Mindfulness and Meditation helps you stay in the present moment and be grateful for little accomplishments in life. It will help you feel content with the current status instead of worrying about the future.
Conclusion
In Conclusion, Imposter syndrome is just a negative thought pattern that brings suffering while correlating to unsatisfied success and achievement. With just being your authentic self and accepting yourself the way you are can break the patterns. Remember that Imposter syndrome comes to people having some degree of achievement and success in life. Showing gratitude and taking pride in those achievements will not only help break the pattern but also boost your level of self-confidence promoting more impactful and motivated achievements.