It can be argued that once in every person’s life they experience the feeling of being an imposter.

For most, the feeling is fleeting but for some people it persists over time. They just never feel like they should be where they are, or that they should have achieved all that they have achieved. 

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In such cases the person could be suffering from Imposter syndrome.

What is Imposter Syndrome

The Caltech Counseling Center writes that the Imposter syndrome can be defined as ‘a collection of feelings of inadequacy that persist even in face of information that indicates that the opposite is true. It is experienced internally as chronic self-doubt, and feelings of intellectual fraudulence.’ 

They also write that these feelings of being an imposter can be separated into 3 categories:  

Feeling like a fake: this is when a person doesn’t believe that they deserve the success they’ve gained. They’ll often feel like people will soon discover how much knowledge they lack and they’ll be found out that they’re a phony.

Attributing success to luck: another aspect of imposter syndrome is that a person will credit luck for their achievements or some other external force. They’ll often respond to praise by saying I was lucky this time. They are often plagued with the fear that next time they won’t be able make something work.

Discounting/dismissing success: this an aspect of the syndrome where a person dismisses their success. Despite ongoing achievements and ongoing success you have an internal sense that this is a lie and you’re feeling like a fraud.

Who is most likely to suffer from Imposter syndrome:

Sowetan LIVE contacted Johannesburg based clinical psychologist Rebecca Apteker to ask what type of person is most likely to be affected by this syndrome.

“There is a lot of standard research that shows the kind of person typically, statistically likely to experience it.

But in terms of experience, generally what happens is that a person, who has grown up in a particular context and then finds themselves in an environment or a situation in life which is totally different to what they have been groomed for or what their environment has suggested to them that they were capable of or that they had internalized by themselves.

So they were brought up to expect that they would be lower middle class, they were going to work as a teacher and suddenly they’ve won a billion dollars and found themselves in Hollywood. They’ve got no internal schema to incorporate their new experience into, so everything feels fake and strange”

Apteker mentioned that it’s not really a diagnosed condition but there has been ‘a lot of thinking about it.’ When asked how one can receive help if they feel they’re affected by the syndrome she answered that acknowledgement was the first step. She mentioned

" If I was working with a person who showed those qualities my sense would be to identify, so in other words talk about and actually speak about incongruity. In other words here you’ve received this amazing achievement and I notice you’re not owning it, you don’t seem to glow you’ve got no pride, you’re not owning it.

Being able to identify the incongruity and then be  curious about why it's there.  If that was in a therapy context that is what I would  be doing with an individual."

Here are some additional tips from psychcentral.com on dealing with imposter syndrome.

1.         Give yourself an appraisal - List any achievements you’re proud of just to remind yourself of your strengths

2.         Remember that awareness is a good thing - being aware of the problem, means you will be able to work at it until it is fixed.

3.         Make a “feel good” file - save all the positive testimonials, kind words, praise and thanks that you receive, so you can look back at them when you need to.

4.         Spend time with those who lift you up  - Spend time in the company of those people who uplift you

5.         Keep a journal- jot down all the things that went well/achievements that day or daily affirmations.