c’est la vie WRITTEN BY KELSEY BARNES ILLUSTRATION BY SAMA AL-ZANOON
why we need to tackle the impostor syndrome monster It’s likely that there is a monster living in your head that you didn’t even know was there. It likes to whisper words of doubt every time you are proud. It likes to remind you that others are doing better at exactly what you love to do. It likes to make all of your insecurities big and your accomplishments small. This monster has lingered in the minds of women like Lupita Nyong’o, Tavi Gevinson, and Emma Watson, and this monster’s name is Impostor Syndrome. Impostor Syndrome is something that has impacted my entire life (and probably yours, too!) but I’ve never really seen it, talked about it, or heard about it until a few years ago. The term was created by two female researchers, Dr. Pauline R. Clance and Dr. Suzanne A. Imes, and can be defined as “a psychological pattern in which a person doubts their accomplishments and has an internalized fear of being exposed as a fraud.” It impacts all of us to an extent; young people question their accomplishments because of their youth and older people feel that they are too late to be accomplishing things that younger people have accomplished ages ago. Even when we work hard, get dirt under our fingernails, and lean into our endeavors, we still have this feeling that all of our success is just dumb luck. For creatives starting their careers and leaning into their art, whether that be in music, photography, or writing, impostor syndrome has a way of creeping in. Since impostor syndrome causes people to doubt our work and success, our mental health can suffer from it; by double-guessing and doubting accomplishments or by scrolling through feeds and comparing to other people, anyone can begin to feel that they are not good enough or talentless. Moreover, many people who do struggle with their mental health also struggle with impostor syndrome by downplaying their mental health or not speaking out about their struggles at all out of fear that they are not as bad as others. How do we start allowing ourselves to not only embrace our successes, but to actively celebrate and be excited about our achievements?
28
