Do YOU have imposter syndrome? Therapist reveals 6 signs
Do YOU have imposter syndrome? Therapist reveals six red flags – including being sensitive to criticism and constantly comparing yourself to others
- London-based therapist Abby Rawlinson shares mental health content online
- She has 127k followers on Instagram where she shares advice and information
- In a recent post, she discussed imposter syndrome and whether you may have it
- Among signs she shared are being very sensitive to even constructive criticism
A therapist has revealed six signs you may be suffering from imposter syndrome – including believing your success is all down to luck or good timing.
London-based therapist Abby Rawlinson regularly shares information about mental health topics with her more than 127,000 followers on Instagram.
She has tackled the topic on a number of occasions, explaining what imposter syndrome is, as well as sharing possible signs of the condition in a recent post.
According to Abby, imposter syndrome is ‘all about fear’, including the fear of failure, not being ‘good enough’, judgement and criticism, and being exposed as ‘fake’ or a ‘fraud’.
Do YOU suffer from imposter syndrome? A therapist has revealed six signs, including being very sensitive to any criticism to constantly comparing yourself to others (stock image)
Abby wrote: ‘When we regularly experience these fears our nervous system can get dysregulated, which results in periods of ‘hyperarousal’ or ‘hypoarousal’.
6 signs of imposter syndrome
1. Feeling anxious that you’ll be exposed as a ‘fraud’ or a ‘fake’.
2. Believing your success is down to luck or good timing.
3. Frequently feeling anxious, overwhelmed or stuck.
4. Feeling inadequate despite demonstrating competency.
5. Being very sensitive to even constructive criticism.
6. Constantly comparing yourself to other people.
She noted that ‘hyperarousal’ is commonly referred to as fight or flight.
Abby added: ‘When we get stuck in this state we can feel anxious and panicky.
‘[This] can cause us to ‘over-function’, which might look like: working long hours, difficulty delegating, trouble switching off, and perfectionism.’
Meanwhile, she said, ‘hypoarousal’ is commonly referred to as freeze.
‘When we get stuck in this state,’ she wrote, ‘we can feel withdrawn, depressed and low in motivation, and it can cause us to ‘under-function’.
This might look like: avoiding difficult conversations, difficulty asking for help, failing to be assertive, and staying under the radar.’
Understanding the autonomic state we are in is important according to the therapist, as it is ‘indicative of the thoughts we’re having’.
She described this as having urgent thoughts while in an anxious hyperarousal state, for example, ‘I must do something now’.
However, during a low hypoarousal state, thoughts will be more of the ‘I can’t’ variety.
She wrote: ‘This connection between our nervous system and our thoughts is why we need to approach imposter syndrome from a mind-body perspective!’
People took to the comments section of the post and opened up their own experiences with imposter syndrome
People took to the comments section of the post to share their own experiences of imposter syndrome.
One wrote: ‘Believing your success is down to luck. I’ve battled with that one ALOT. ‘
Another added: ‘Ugh yes! There are so many aspects to imposter syndrome.’
And a third simply wrote: ‘So very very true!.’
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