Impostor syndrome is a lie. As is the case with all pervasive lies, it is bolstered by the “say it enough and it will become true” ethos. Influential talking heads discuss this “syndrome” on TV and in podcasts and incessantly in your social media feeds, so it must be a “thing,” right?

August publications acknowledge that imposter syndrome isn’t actually a mental disorder, but then go on to say that it afflicted Albert Einstein, Tom Hanks, Jennifer Lopez, Serena Williams and a star-studded cast of others.

What is really going on here?

A closer look

A syndrome is a set of associated symptoms that indicate the presence of an abnormal situation – a disease or disorder. And symptoms are subjective manifestations of disease (as opposed to signs, which are objective). What are the symptoms associated with this pseudo-disorder? Anxiety and depression.

Hold on a second, here. No boils or blindness, paralysis or priapism? Not even a respectable case of rectal bleeding? Nope. Anxiety and depression (which, by the way, are two sides of the same psychological coin).

That seems pretty generic. Anxiety and depression are part of modern life. A show of hands: everyone who does not experience anxiety and/or depression in the course of daily life, raise your hand. Yeah, I didn’t think so.

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is a relatively recent addition to the psychiatric lexicon. Its inclusion as a billable disorder supercharged the rise of anxiolytic drug prescriptions. Brilliant! Everyone has anxiety because this is a highly competitive world. That means we can sell anxiety meds to…everybody! The most commonly prescribed psychotropic drug is Alprazolam (Xanax) – an “anti-anxiety” drug – with more than 21 million prescriptions written in 2020 alone. And there are many other such drugs on the market.

Yet I digress (the GAD rabbit hole is best left for future writing).

OK. So anxiety and depression are the symptoms. The cause of this anxiety, apparently, is the feeling that one is an “impostor.” Literally? Like you had plastic surgery and are now a body double for Jennifer Lopez, living her life?

The answer is again generic and has nothing to do with being an impostor in the literal sense. “Impostor,” as (incorrectly) used in this instance, means “I’m not sure I’m as capable as others think.”

Let’s summarize.

Impostor syndrome is a lie

A person goes all-out to rise to the top of a given profession. That person is publicly recognized for superlative performance in the chosen field. Inevitably, this high-performing person wonders if the performance is as good as the press. Anxiety results from trying to live up to the reputation.

This scenario is neither indicative of a diagnostic syndrome nor involves pretending to be someone else. Imagine that you are an A-level Hollywood actor or the top ranked athlete in your sport, or a chart-topping musician. Perhaps you have become a corporate CEO or Internet “influencer.” You know that there are legions of competitors waiting to take your job. And you know you can’t be “on top” forever.

Stress and anxiety are the normal price to pay for exemplary performance in any field. In a competitive environment, you are well aware that you are only as good as your last performance. Lose a game? Have your movie or record bomb? Lose your social media following? Did your company’s stock tank? There’s someone right behind you to take over.

Only a person with a raging narcissistic personality disorder (a real mental disorder) would be immune to anxiety in such circumstances.

Self-doubt is natural

There is no pathological process at work here, just the normal human emotions that accompany being good at what you do. Anxiety is part of the process. If the anxiety becomes overwhelming, the problem is unrealistic expectations, not “impostor syndrome.”

The way to deal with the stress of competence is to understand that it is normal. Maybe talk to a friend or a therapist about it.

It is dangerous to pathologize normal emotions because there is a pill with your name on it that will make everything all better. And when the medicated version of you loses its edge, the thing you feared in the first place will surely manifest.

Your choices are binary: recognize that stress is a part of growth and take responsibility to learn to deal with it, or play the victim and take medication for the “syndrome” with which you have been so unjustly afflicted.

It is time to stop feeling like there is something wrong with us every time we are faced with discomfort.

As always, I welcome your thoughts. You can reach me through the comments section on my Substack or Medium accounts or the blog section on my website. If this article as of value to you, please follow my Instagram and Twitter accounts. And be sure to subscribe to my River Of Creation podcast – The Podcast for Creators! – coming later this year.

Be well; do good!

• JWW