The most distinctive feature of those experiencing 'Imposter Syndrome', which is not widely known to the public, is; It is defined as 'the belief that one is a fraud or a fraud'. Department of Psychology Dr. Faculty Member Psychiatrist Onur Okan Demirci talked about this disorder, also known as "Imposter Syndrome", as follows: This disorder is also given names such as Imposter Phenomenon, Fraud Syndrome, Imposterism, Impostor Syndrome, Impostor Syndrome. People who suffer from this disorder believe that their personal successes are due to coincidence, luck or fake. Because they believe this, they feel like a fraud or a fraud. However, facts have nothing to do with fraud. The person has actually achieved success entirely with his own skill and effort, but due to some dysfunctional and unreal thoughts that appear in his mind, he ends up believing that he is a fraud or a fraud.” Stating that he tries to avoid conversations, conversations and social environments with the concern that he will be found out, Demirci said, “For example; He begins to avoid attending meetings, giving speeches, giving seminars, and entering work environments out of concern that he will be asked questions. Even though the person is quite successful and intelligent, he convinces himself that this is not real, and as a result, he begins to avoid social environments in order not to be noticed from the outside. Thus, performance anxiety and social anxiety arise in the person. "This situation actually seems to be a mixture of the obsessive disease and social phobia that we all know," he said. Psychiatrist Demirci, referring to the personality structure, said, "A person who believes that everything should be perfect will not accept that there is no such thing as perfect, so any work he does will be inadequate for him." With these thoughts of inadequacy, he will call every success he achieves as coincidence or luck. He will live in anxiety and fear, thinking that these coincidences will one day be noticed by others. These people t Typically, they think that they are fake, they believe that their success is just luck, and when they receive a compliment, they try to give overly polite answers because they believe that the compliment is not real.
For example, a person who receives a compliment about his beauty expresses this situation by saying 'I'm not actually beautiful, that's it. may describe it as 'your beautiful perspective'. Or the person who is praised for his success makes overly polite comments such as "Actually, I didn't do anything, it was just an easy exam." This disorder is mostly seen in women. Although rare, it is seen in men. To reiterate, people who suffer from this disorder are not unsuccessful or lazy people; on the contrary, they are overworked, high-capacity, smart and successful people. "They just don't believe that they are smart and hard-working enough to deserve success," he said. Stating that he criticized himself, Demirci said, “These criticisms may be related to his achievements or his appearance. As can be understood from here, the problem is not the thoughts, behaviors or words of people outside, the real problem is the unreal thoughts that constantly revolve in the person's own mind. There are many famous and well-known names who suffer from this condition.
Dr. emphasizes that psychiatric medication as well as psychotherapy methods such as cognitive behavioral therapies and EMDR can be applied in the treatment of people suffering from impostor syndrome. Faculty Member Onur Okan Demirci said, “The person's work environment can also trigger this disorder. Any environment where anxiety and competition are not met naturally, where there is excessive pressure, and where one works in large and corporate companies will trigger this disorder in the person. The aim of treatment is to prevent negative thoughts that constantly occupy the person's mind, which are not actually real, or to replace them with real ones. Many of us may have been caught in this situation, which is actually quite common in society. "We may not be able to get this disease, but we always have the power to change it," he said.
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