Imposter Syndrome
It happens that most of us attribute the successes we have achieved at certain times to luck, and think that they get good results because things are going well. This is particularly evident in some mental disorders. In the Imposter Syndrome, the individual believes that the reason for their success is luck or that they have achieved these successes by dishonesty and cheating.
There are basically three features of imposter syndrome. The first is to believe that other people have an exaggerated opinion of your abilities, the second is to be afraid of being exposed to be dishonest, and the third is to attribute success to external factors such as luck.
The occupational clusters and lifestyles in which the risk of imposter syndrome is most obvious include students, academics, individuals who achieve high achievements at a young age, individuals who are unusual in their current positions, those with highly successful parents and those who work alone.
Individuals with this syndrome always seek to work harder so that other people will think and understand that they have achieved success by dishonesty. They believe that one day the reason for their success will be revealed because of dishonesty, and they will return to the zero point where they started, losing everything they have gained. For this reason, they work day and night. As a result of this whole process, believing that they are always dishonest leads to unhappiness. This feeling can trigger many mental disorders by inviting panic attacks, anxiety and major depressive disorder at the end of the day.
One of the most valuable factors in the emergence of Imposter Syndrome is the environment in which the individual grows up and parental attitudes. In general, a sibling or one of the other family members in the family is more prominent and because the child is seen as more successful, it may be due to the fact that the child works hard to prove that he is successful, but cannot get rid of this feeling. Another reason is that the child, who is seen as a natural talent in the family and cannot be successful in the academic world, starts to feel unhappy when he sees that the truth is not told to him in this regard and that he has to work hard to achieve something. Another very valuable reason is the factor of neglect, which is a predictor of many mental disorders. In order to get rid of the child neglect factor, children who are not appreciated even though they struggle a lot, have the opinion that no one should be appreciated for their work in adulthood and that they do not deserve it, and they think that they should continue to work hard so that everything does not turn upside down.
The symptoms of Imposter Syndrome manifest themselves as behavioral and internal. Behavioral symptoms include procrastination, being very prepared for a job in every detail, shyness and postponing basic needs due to hard work. As internal symptoms, mistakes in the way of self-perception, inadequacy intention, troubles, trouble making decisions and self-doubt can be counted.
Specialist Clinical Psychologist Damla Kankaya
Posted by Psychologist Ezgi Şahin
