You passed the exam, got the role, closed the project. And the thought isn't “I made it”: it's “this time it went well, but sooner or later they'll find out”.
There impostor syndrome is the persistent feeling of not deserving your own achievements and of deceiving others about your abilities. It was first described in 1978 by psychologists Pauline Clance and Suzanne Imes, who observed it in women with brilliant careers who were convinced they had gotten where they were by chance.
It's Not an Illness
This needs to be said right away, because the name is misleading: it is not a syndrome in the clinical sense and does not appear in any diagnostic manual. It is a psychological phenomenon, very widespread, which can be mild and temporary or weigh significantly on a person's life.
Estimates suggest that around 70% of people experience it at least once. Which means that, in the room where you think you're the only one who doesn't deserve to be there, you're probably not the only one thinking it.
How to Recognize It
- Attributing successes to luck, good timing, others' kindness — never to one's own abilities
- Attributing failures, on the other hand, entirely to oneself
- Constant fear of being “exposed”
- Difficulty internalizing compliments: they seem like kindness or a misjudgment
- Excessive preparation, far beyond what would be needed
- Or the opposite: putting things off until the last minute, so that any failure can be explained by lack of time
- Avoiding opportunities for which one is qualified, because “not ready enough”
- Relief instead of satisfaction, when something goes well
Why Achievements Don't Reduce It
This is the most counterintuitive part. You'd think that accumulating successes would fix things. The opposite happens: the higher you climb, the more you have to lose, and the higher the stakes of being exposed become.
The reason is that the mechanism is self-reinforcing. If you prepare to the point of exhaustion and it goes well, the conclusion isn't “I'm capable” but “it went well because I worked myself to death”. Success becomes proof that without that excessive effort you would have been found out — and so it reinforces exactly what it should disprove.
It's the same mechanism as protective behaviors insocial anxiety: the strategy that helps you survive the situation prevents you from discovering that you would have survived anyway.
Where It Comes From
Early family messages. Those who were labeled “the good one” or “the smart one” learn that their worth lies in performance: making a mistake doesn't mean having gotten something wrong, it means no longer being that person. Those who instead mostly received criticism can arrive at the same point from the opposite direction.
Being the exception in the group. The first person in the family to graduate, the only woman on a team, the only young person in a senior position, a different background. When no one resembles you, the assumption “I shouldn't be here” comes easily.
Competitive environments where vulnerability isn't shown: everyone sees their own insecurity from the inside and others' confidence from the outside.
Perfectionism, which raises the bar every time it's reached.
What helps
Distinguishing feeling from knowing. “I feel inadequate” is not the same as “I am inadequate”. It sounds obvious, but the confusion between these two statements is at the heart of the problem.
Keeping track of the facts. A written list of achievements, feedback, decisions that turned out well. This helps because, under this mechanism, memory is selective: it remembers mistakes and blurs everything else.
Trying to do less. Deliberately reducing excessive preparation on something low-risk, and observing what happens. It's the only way to get new information instead of yet another ambiguous confirmation.
Accepting compliments without dismissing them. A “thank you” instead of “oh no, it was easy”. Every time you downplay positive feedback, you're erasing it from your data.
Talking about it. Discovering that the colleague who seems so confident thinks the same things is often the most effective blow to the mechanism.
Separating worth from performance. It's the longest work, and it's the one that usually requires a journey: if your worth coincides with what you produce, every bad day becomes a matter of identity.
When it's worth asking for help
When it leads you to turn down opportunities you're qualified for, when the effort to hold up the role is eroding your health and relationships, when it's accompanied by anticipatory anxiety constant, or a persistently low mood, or when you recognize yourself in the high-functioning depression.
There's also a frequent connection with the burnout: those who feel they must compensate for a presumed inadequacy work beyond any reasonable limit, and at some point the system breaks down.
Frequent use
Is it a diagnosis?
No. It doesn't appear in diagnostic manuals. It's a well-documented psychological phenomenon, not a disorder.
Does it only affect women?
It was first described through studies on women, but subsequent research has found it widely present in men as well. What changes, if anything, is how much it's talked about.
Why does it get worse when I achieve more?
Because the perceived distance between how others see you and how you see yourself grows, and with it the stakes. Promotions are typical moments of flare-up.
Is the opposite arrogance?
No. The opposite is a realistic assessment: recognizing what you can do and what you can't do, without either defining who you are.
How long does it take to overcome it?
It depends on how deeply rooted it is. Many people notice concrete changes within a few months of targeted work; fully untangling the link between self-worth and performance takes longer.
A journey in Florence or online
If you recognize yourself in this pattern, you can contact me for an initial introductory session. I receive in my office in Florence, at Via Tommaso Campanella 5, in the Campo di Marte – Coverciano area, and online.
Italian 
English