The link between imposter syndrome and anxiety (why capable people feel like frauds)

If you regularly doubt your competence or feel like you’re one mistake away from being “exposed” as a fraud, you might be dealing with imposter syndrome.

Here’s how it can look:

A client shared with me that she’d just received a promotion (one that she’d been working towards for over a year).

Her supervisor praised her skill & leadership and her colleagues congratulated her, saying it was well-deserved.

Solid proof that she was succeeding, right?

Nope. Maybe to others, but not to her.

She looked down and said quietly:

“I’m so on edge now. I feel like I’ve tricked everyone. Like at any minute they’ll realize they made a mistake. I’m working extra-long hours so I won’t get found out.”

She wasn’t underqualified, incompetent, or ill-suited for the new role. She was experiencing imposter syndrome.

As a therapist who specializes in anxiety and emotion regulation, I see imposter syndrome as an anxiety pattern... fueled by negative self-evaluation, fears about emotional risk, and ways the nervous system responds to stress.

Let’s look at what imposter syndrome actually is, how it shows up in daily life, how anxiety fuels it, and practical emotion management skills that can help you shift the pattern.

What exactly is imposter syndrome?

→ Imposter syndrome is a persistent belief that your talent, intelligence, or capability isn’t truly certain.

It’s basically an internal sense of phoniness despite evidence that shows otherwise.

Imposter syndrome is not a mental health diagnosis, but it is often linked to a diagnosis of anxiety.

Clinically, imposter syndrome functions as an anxiety regulation pattern - a way the nervous system uses an anxious lens to handle being visible to others and evaluated by them (and the emotional risk of these two things).

It was originally coined the impostor phenomenon by psychology researchers Dr. Pauline Clance & Dr. Suzanne Imes in 1978, long before Instagram & Tik Tok got a hold of it.

Their research found that even when there is solid proof of intelligence or accomplishments, people who experience the imposter phenomenon still believe they’re actually “not bright” and “have fooled anyone who thinks otherwise."

Three core patterns of imposter feelings (is this you?)

1 - Feeling like a phony

You worry you’ve fooled others into overestimating you. You live in fear that you’ll be exposed for not being capable enough.

“Eventually they’ll realize I don’t know what I’m doing.”

2 - Denying your role in success

You attribute your accomplishments to luck, timing, or other people. You believe success only happens when you put in tons of extra effort to compensate (rather than due to your talent or worth).

“I just got lucky.”

3 - Dismissing accomplishments

Your successes don’t stick emotionally. You brush them off as flukes or not a big deal. Compliments don’t shift your underlying view of yourself.

“They’re just being nice.”

What imposter syndrome actually looks like

Imposter syndrome flies under the radar really well. People dealing with it don’t usually seem obviously insecure on the outside. Rather, it’s bubbling inside highly capable people who appear skillful and productive, but feel unsettled on the inside.

→ In the workplace: over-preparation and poor self-care

Jordan spends hours preparing for presentations, far more than her colleagues. Before meetings, she reads over the notes repeatedly, anticipating every possible question and even scripts out her responses.

She sacrifices sleep and personal time because she’s terrified of being seen as unprofessional or “not measuring up.”

Afterward presentations, coworkers say things like: “That was great!” “You’re so good at this.”

Jordan’s internal reaction: “Ooof, I barely pulled that off. Next time they’ll catch me on something.”

From the outside: dedicated and competent. From the inside: constant threat of “failing”

→ As a parent: chronic self-doubt & comparison

Sam reads scads of parenting books, listens to podcasts, and works hard to create safety, stability and emotional connection with his kids.

After a stressful morning of kid shenanigans, Sam’s patience runs thin and he barks at them to “just stop whining and get in the car.”

The youngest one starts bawling.

Sam spends the rest of the day replaying it with dread: “Ugh, a good parent wouldn’t get overwhelmed like this. I have no idea what I’m doing. I’m messing up my kids.”

Even when one of the kiddos gives Sam a spontaneous bear hug that afternoon, it doesn’t stick. He’s still convinced that he’s not a good dad.

Here, imposter syndrome is attached to Sam’s identity as a parent. Instead of feeling grounded in the relationships he’s building with his kids, every imperfect moment feels like proof of failure.

Why imposter syndrome is closely linked to anxiety

People often assume it's about low self-esteem. But research tells us that imposter syndrome is primarily an anxiety regulation issue.

Your nervous system constantly scans for threats to your sense of belonging: your mistakes that others might notice, judgment or negative evaluation from others, or disappointing someone who matters to you.

To your brain, those risks feel like survival threats: you might be rejected or cast out or fired(!). So your nervous system does its job trying to keep you safely in the “tribe,” but it’s just on overdrive.

Workplaces amplify this “danger” because visibility to others is built in.

No matter the job… our coworkers see us, bosses see us, customers see us. More visibility means more opportunities to be evaluated… and the anxious brain treats that evaluation as danger.

So instead of thinking: “I earned this job and I have what it takes,” the anxious brain thinks: “Now there’s more pressure and eyeballs on me. More places to fail.”

This fear creates a repeating imposter cycle:

→ fear of being exposed

→ self-doubt about performance

→ extra effort & over-preparation

→ temporary relief when things go well

→ next task appears

→ repeat cycle

The extra effort often works temporarily: the meeting or project goes well (whew!). But the relief is short-lived, because there's always a next one. No amount of external proof seems to touch the imposter feeling on the inside.

Over time, the cycle grinds toward burnout: your effort keeps climbing but the internal confidence in your competence never arrives.

What makes you especially vulnerable to imposter syndrome?

Imposter syndrome shows up disproportionately in people who are:

• conscientious

• empathetic

• emotionally aware

• committed to self-growth

• deeply invested in doing things well

There’s an irony here: the more self-aware you are, the more clearly you see your own knowledge gaps. People with less self-awareness don’t notice what they don’t know. But you do.

Meanwhile, although you know your behind-the-scenes doubts and late nights, you mostly see other people's polished exteriors. Anxiety fills in the comparison gap, confirming the belief that you don’t measure up.

Imposter syndrome is even more common in competitive environments (like high-pressure work settings, driven families, elite teams), and in non-majority populations who feel the added weight of proving "worth" for the whole group they represent.

Do I have imposter syndrome?

If you’re wondering whether this pattern fits you, these tools can help you reflect more concretely:

Online self-assessment: https://coached.com/tools/impostor-syndrome-test

Original Clance Impostor Phenomenon Scale (1985) https://paulineroseclance.com/pdf/IPscoringtest.pdf

How to shift away from imposter syndrome

Remember: imposter syndrome isn’t about lacking competence. It’s your brain trying to protect you from emotional risk in environments that matter deeply to you - your work, your parenting, your relationships, your sense of self.

So to create a shift for yourself, you don’t have to convince yourself that you're extraordinary or fully eliminate self-doubt. You need to relate to yourself with the same acceptance for “humanness” that you already extend to others: accepting less than “perfect” and seeing value even when there are mistakes.

Below are 5 practices that come from evidence-based emotion regulation skills used in anxiety treatment. These strategies retrain your nervous system to interpret competence more accurately over time and target the anxiety underneath the imposter feelings.

1. Adjust how you explain your performance

Notice where your brain assigns credit when something goes well. Do you chalk it up to luck, timing, or other people? Do you assign setbacks entirely to your own inadequacy?

Many people apply a double standard: generous toward others, ruthless toward themselves.

Your shift

→ Ask yourself: How would I explain this outcome if it happened to a colleague?

2. Separate the feeling from the fact

Feeling like a fraud isn't proof that you are one. Aim for accuracy when your brain fixates on all the ways you’re an imposter. Zoom out for opposite proof that you aren’t “just one mistake away” from being obliterated.

Your shift

→ Describe what's actually happening: "That’s imposter syndrome spiking up. My nervous system is on high alert because I’m afraid of judgment. That's not actual danger. I am safe and I am competent"

3. Take messy action

Imposter syndrome-related burnout comes from believing you need perfection before action. This drives the over-preparation and self-care sacrifices.

Confidence and certainty rarely arrive before action, they’re the result of experience and action.

Your shift

→ Share your imperfect work draft. Have the repair conversation before you rehearse it 6 times.

Let action be the evidence of safety that your nervous system needs.

4. Receive compliments without editing them

The imposter instinct is to deflect, minimize, or reject praise. But allowing positive feedback to land without discounting helps your brain update its internal model of you.

Your shift

→ Respond neutrally to positive feedback: “Thank you, I appreciate that.”

You don't have to believe the praise fully, just remove the minimizing part.

→ Bonus action: keep a running log of positive feedback and refer to it when you spiral in imposter fears & negative self-assessments.

5. Shift away from self-monitoring

Anxiety turns your attention inward: “How am I doing?” “What do they think?” “Is this enough?”

This internal spotlight is exhausting and actually makes it harder to perform well.

Your shift

→ Redirect your attention outward: What does this situation need right now What contribution can I make, regardless of size or quality? What proof do I have that perfection is not required?

You are not an imposter

If this resonates and you struggle with feeling like an imposter, consider this:

Competence and doubt are not opposites. They coexist in many capable, caring, growth-oriented people.

With repeated effort, your nervous system can learn something new:

You can feel unsure and still be capable.

You can feel anxious and still belong.

You can be imperfect and still be enough.

Learning to manage the anxiety underneath imposter syndrome won’t eliminate your self-doubt, but it makes it much less debilitating.

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If high anxiety or intense emotions hold you back in your life and work, my live and on-demand courses offer the emotion regulation tools you're missing.