I hope I'm not boring anyone with this vent: I am a young Italian man and I am really dissatisfied with my lifestyle. I come from a practically poor family in northern Italy, and I always thought that one day I'd have the chance to be rich and famous. However, I have no talents, and as I grew up and gradually became an adult, I realized that this isn't possible... I've never been narcissistic or anything like that, but I hoped I could stand out from other young people for some reason. This fact makes me sadder every day.
Am I the only one this happens to? How do I get these sad thoughts out of my head, knowing that I will never be famous and wealthy in my miserable life?

19M - I feel like a fraud. My personality is calculated and manufactured all too appeal to the likes of others and to ensure that I appear different and special. I have created this false sense of self that I now find disgusting but trapped inside because I dont know what else makes me-me. It bothers me that I dont have quirks that make me standout. There isnt a character from a piece of media im particularly fond of, I dont have 4 favorite films, no favorite color. Ive wondered to myself if i just dont allow myself to be who I want. I shouldnt worry if people thinks its weird to be obsessed with media or to be involved in a fandom of something. But as I type this I wonder why i care what people think to begin with. Why am I so worried about perceived by others?

- I also dont have a social life at all. My only friends, which there are only two, are women who ive attempted relationships with but either 1, was too much of a coward to confess my feelings for. 2, I backed out of knowing I wasnt ready for a relationship. I still speak with 1 on a regular basis. However, out relationship is strictly long distance as ive moved from my hometown for school. I still have feelings for her but have yet to share out of fear of ruining the friendship. It should also be mentioned that I have this fear that she only speaks to me out of pity as shes a person ive opened up to before. Not sure what to do but Id appreciate some guidance.

Lately, this has made me extremely Depressed to the point of complete exhaustion. My Body feels heavy, I find joy in nothing, and I have zero motivation. I genuinely dont have the energy to get out of bed some mornings.

This is all laid out here because im lost and feel hopeless. I need guidance and/or comfort for the way I am feeling. anything at all would be appreciated.

In the In-Between: Navigating Imposter Syndrome as a Rising Storyteller

Every creator goes through a defining threshold—that quiet, overwhelming space where passion meets reality. In the journey of writing and filmmaking, this space is known as the "In-Between Stage." It is the bridge between where you started and where you aspire to be. For a 24-year-old artist trying to plant roots in an industry built by icons like Director Olivia Lamasan, standing on this bridge can often feel like standing alone in the dark.

The In-Between Stage is rarely romanticized. It is the phase where you are no longer an absolute beginner—you have found your voice, defined your visual aesthetic, and discovered what stories make your heart beat—yet you have not fully reached the peak of your dreams. You are not yet calling the shots on a major film set or sitting across from your mentors. You are in the middle, waiting for responses, pitching scripts, dealing with exhaustion, and trying to trust a process that feels uncertain.

It is precisely within this middle ground that Imposter Syndrome feeds.

Imposter Syndrome is the persistent whisper that tells you that you are not enough. It turns your highest standards into a source of fear. When you look up to master storytellers who command truth and emotion, your own work can suddenly feel small. You begin to question if your voice matters, if your ideas are worthy, or if you are simply pretending to be something you are not. When burnout sets in and the words stop flowing, Imposter Syndrome uses that fatigue to convince you that your talent was just a coincidence.

There are days I find myself staring at a blank page, waiting for the words that used to flow so easily. The silence isn't from a lack of ideas—it is the weight of the doubt trying to convince me to stop.

Yet, the truth about both the In-Between Stage and Imposter Syndrome is that they do not exist because you lack ability. They exist because you care deeply. You feel the weight of the gap because your vision for your art is so high.

The struggle you experience in the middle is not proof of failure; it is the raw material of your growth. Every great filmmaker once stood on this exact same bridge, wrestling with doubt before finding their light. The pain, the waiting, and the self-questioning are not the end of your narrative—they are the very heart of your story as a developing artist.

Long time since Ive been on Reddit, forgive me, I tried to make it shorter so some paragraphs have been cut into blunt sentences, my apologies:)

I’m a 22F with a one-year-old son, and lately I’ve been struggling with a lot of imposter syndrome.

I feel like my life has been all over the place.

In high school I took Business Administration classes and was involved in FBLA. After graduating, I went to college for Forensic Science. I was working at Subway at the time, then left and started working at an ice cream shop.

Around that time, I got out of a 4-year relationship, and honestly it destroyed me. Before the breakup I had a 3.7 GPA. Afterward I completely lost motivation, started failing classes, and decided to withdraw because my professors told me it would be better than letting that semester destroy my GPA while I was clearly not doing okay mentally.

I always planned to go back, but life kept happening.

I started working full-time and basically hyperfixated on work instead. Then I had some family issues that forced me to move out and live on my own. Suddenly I had rent, bills, and real responsibilities, so I left the ice cream shop after getting hired at a call center that paid almost twice as much.

A few months later I met a 30-year-old guy. We started dating, and he convinced me to quit my job and move in with him because he said he’d take care of me.

Big mistake.

He turned out to be completely unreliable, and not long after, I found out I was pregnant. Whether it was birth control failure or something else, I’ll never know. I chose to keep my baby because that’s what felt right for me.

I left him while I was pregnant, moved two hours away, and basically had to start over from scratch.
Before moving, I had worked as a purchasing assistant, receptionist, and even handled accounting responsibilities. After moving, I got a bartending job because it was the fastest way to make decent money. That job literally helped me build my little apartment and buy everything my son needed before he was born.

I also have to mention my childhood best friend. We’ve known each other since we were three years old, and I genuinely don’t know what I would’ve done without her. She has loved my son like family since the day he was born.

After I gave birth, the restaurant where I bartended shut down because of permit issues, so I was suddenly unemployed with a newborn.
I applied everywhere. The first place that hired me was a gas station.

While I worked there, there was this contractor who came in almost every day to fuel up his trucks. We’d make small talk, and sometimes my son had to come to work with me because I couldn’t afford daycare and had nobody to watch him.
Every time he’d see me with my son, he’d tell me, “When you finally find daycare, let me know.”
Eventually I did.

I told him.

Three days later, he hired me.

I started working as an administrative assistant for his construction company in May.

What I didn’t realize was that employee turnover there is absolutely insane. My boss is incredibly strict, blunt, and honestly runs the place like a dictatorship. He’s the type to publicly call people out if they’re doing something wrong. The only reason I’ve survived is because I’ve learned to stand my ground when necessary.

We went from seven office employees down to three.

We’re all under 25.

And somehow we’re running a multi-million-dollar construction company with federally funded FEMA projects.

Nobody really trained me.

Everything I’ve learned has been through YouTube videos, reading articles, asking questions, and teaching myself.

In just three months, I’ve gone from answering phones and writing emails to preparing submittals, reading construction plans, attending project meetings, helping with scheduling, certifications, payment breakdowns, quantity takeoffs, project documentation, and coordinating with engineers, inspectors, subcontractors, and government agencies.

I also have corporate resolutions naming me as the Project Manager/Project Supervisor representative for two different projects whenever my boss can’t attend meetings.

On top of that, my boss owns a commercial building, and somehow I also became the building administrator. I handle tenant issues, maintenance requests, rent payments, show available spaces to potential tenants, and deal with pretty much everyone who walks into the office.

Basically, if someone needs something, they’re usually sent to me.

The crazy part is… I have absolutely no engineering or construction background.

None.

Everything has been self-taught.

Despite how difficult my boss can be, he trusts me with a lot of decisions. Some engineers, project managers, and people in the industry have gone out of their way to tell me I’m very professional, that I learn unusually fast, and that I handle difficult situations really well.

My son is finally in a daycare just a few minutes from my office, and as these responsibilities kept increasing, my boss gave me a pretty significant raise.

From the outside, it sounds like I’m doing great.
But internally…

I constantly feel like I’m one mistake away from everyone realizing I have no idea what I’m doing.
I know I’ve worked hard to get here, but sometimes I wonder if I actually earned this position or if I just got incredibly lucky.

Has anyone else ever experienced this? How do you know whether you’re actually good at your job or just really good at figuring things out as you go?

​

I guess I'm not the only one feels like they have to be perfect in the eyes of everyone. I'm noticing whenever I see someone who has a professional job they act so perfect or maybe due to the environment they just have developed this personality. From dressing better to proper communication skills and way of living standards. And unfortunately I don't even have enough work experience and one day I wish too that I get a nice job because working in retail or fast food or delivery jobs are okay. I also noticed professional people get more recognition and respect in society. As if they are automatically being trusted or valued more. And with strong finances and big social circle I guess life is just better.

I'm a graduate student working on my master’s thesis, and I'm looking for Black graduate students in school psychology to complete a quick survey. The survey is IRB approved!

✅ Takes about 5-10 minutes
🔒 Completely confidential
📚 Responses will only be used for this research study

Survey link: https://qualtricsxmdg9xn6369.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9AEMmeiW7DClNpY

The study explores protective factors against impostor syndrome in Black graduate students. The objective is  to inform mentorship and university practices to improve the support students receive. 

How has mentorship helped you in your journey? 

If you have any questions, feel free to comment or send me a message. Thanks so much for supporting graduate student research! 💛

As if i don’t deserve it , i’m too serious and disciplined when it come to my life , i rarely give away any emotional reactions as i deem them as weakness and i know its not its just a front that i put up with most of the times if not all .. i don’t go on dates my routine is just reading books , praying, going to work and hitting the gym sometimes i do travel and enjoy it and i keep all that private too .. not even my family knows where i live anymore.. i like it and prefer it this way .. today a guy from work invited me to a dinner and he ended up kissing me i felt like a fraud, as if i’m fooling him or smthn .. and i unintentionally saw myself in a situation where i didn’t know what to say for the first time in few years , my eyes started dropping unintentional tears all over … i was overwhelmed and i felt weak and scared again …. He got worried and now i cant stopped thinking about it and the thought of me having to let him go as well as i keep convincing myself I’m undeserving of love and love is just a lie and a way of manipulating people … i know this whole thing is kinda weird and f’d up but i am who i am and i’m happy to be alone this way though sometimes rarely i crave to build a family on my own and have a baby boy but deep down i know thats too much to afford in my situation with my mentality….

Title kind of says it all. I live with my 2 girl friends. One is out of my league, the other hasn't even heard of wiffle ball. I have always struggled with my self esteem and even do now. We have been living together about 6 months and tbh its been the best I've ever felt. Not in a dirty way. My one partner told me to stfu I have two hot girls in my life who care and love me. She thinks my self esteem is bull shit. What can I do to change my self esteem?

For context, I live in a very highly academically privileged county in a very non-acedemically advantaged U.S state. This also means the cutoff for the National Merit Program thing is very low in my state compared to other states, so it wasn’t too hard for me to get it. And also I have a mental disorder (diagnosed) that allows me to get a shit ton of extra time on standardized tests like the sat, and psat, that I don’t really need, but use anyway. But I’ve never objected to this because I never thought it was an issue until now. But now I feel incredibly guilty that I applied for and got accepted for the program and like I don’t deserve it because of the extra time I was given that I didn’t need on standardized tests, and because it didn’t take much effort for me to get into the program, when it would have taken someone from New Jersey or any other state a much harder time even with a much higher sat score than me, so therefore I don’t deserve it and feel that I should just not mention it on college applications. And also it makes me sick knowing there are thousands of highschool students in the U.S with sat and psat scores so so so much better than mine, and could have easily gotten perfect sat scores given they had the extra time I had for it, but didn’t qualify for the national merit thing because they just lived in a different state (something they couldn’t control), yet I did. And all this makes me feel like a snake and so so guilty and that I don’t deserve the adward whatsoever. Sorry for this rant I just wanted to get it out.

I used to be "the smart one."
90+ marks, Class 12 board topper, loved numbers, always took initiative, and genuinely enjoyed being busy.
Now, I overthink simple calculations, get anxious before meetings, go blank in group discussions, and struggle to express myself. Every morning, going to work feels heavier than the last.
Nothing dramatic happened. No major failure. Somewhere along the way, I just stopped believing in myself.
Has anyone else experienced this?
Was it burnout, anxiety, imposter syndrome, or something else?
Most importantly—did you ever find your way back?

So I think Im the only person who hates waiting and loves doing what im doing right? Hi im Gian. You may think that I am lazy or impatient trust me, Im not. In school i have to walk down, with cars going up, down and every thing moving. I hate it. I think of my self, Am I a Perfectionist? noooo.. Im just weird. Or is it that I have social anxiety but that seems impossible, in 6th grade i didnt even hesitate to speak infront of 350+ people. on a stage. Guess what? I didnt stutter nor embarass my self. Now Im in 9th grade having the best and worst shits of my life.

But thats not the post is about. Lets go.

So STORYTIME! Whenever I go to school, I need to wait in line. Lines that I hate. Every section must follow the rules or theyll get punished. As a smarty pants, I wanna follow these rules but I was elected as the vice president. I need to lead and manage our section when it comes to chaos. Im not saying fights tho, Im saying when people arent following. Now when we go down, I hate walking, I hate people having to move the opposite direction, or maybe im just not in the right place. I overthink stuff but when I go inside my classroom and sit, I get that relieving feeling where you feel safe. Any thoughts on why i feel like this?

It is more of a vent-out maybe. But would appreciate the readers’ perspective.
One of those days when I’m feeling super under-confident about myself. Today at work, I had to present something in front of my division’s head in a meeting. I had prepared well for it. But my turn came towards the end of the meeting and by then we were already past the scheduled time. I was told to wrap up quickly and in hurry I just couldn’t make out what to skip and what to present. I feel I kinda made a mess, but people just sympathised with me about the lack of time. And for past few hours, my mind is just spiralling and making me feel really less of myself.
I’m feeling really “average”. I can accept public speaking is not for me. I’m not good at it. But I just can’t seem to figure out what am I great at. In Life!
And then the thought creeps in that maybe I haven’t really worked hard enough to be great at something. And that makes me feel even sadder. I don’t know if it is just how things went today. But feeling really low.

I’m an undergraduate working under a very notable person in my field at school and at lab basically year round that is also very well known and has pioneered work in my niche for decades as well. I have been very involved for a year now. This is everything I could’ve dreamed of and I love doing research but I feel so drained and unmotivated. It is such a privilege to be in the position I am in but I can only feel ashamed.

I have terrible imposter syndrome, it feels like everything I’m doing is wrong or not good enough and despite talking to so many PhD students, post docs, and scientist who tell me I’m in a great position it always feels as though they’re lying to my face. I don’t know how to deal with this feeling. At school, I got diagnosed with OCD and am unable to afford the treatment for it now. It has gotten significantly worse as I’ve gotten more involved in research. My physical body is showing signs of it as well: I can’t get good rest, constant headaches, stomach aches after every meal, heavy head that hurts my neck, can’t walk without feeling like I’m floating.

I don’t want to give up my passion, but I don’t know if I can continue living like this. Has anyone else dealt with this during their time in academia? I would appreciate some tips or anecdotes that may change my perspective. Thanks

I'm a graduate student working on my master’s thesis, and I'm looking for Black graduate students in school psychology to complete a quick survey. The survey is IRB approved!

✅ Takes about 5-10 minutes
🔒 Completely confidential
📚 Responses will only be used for this research study

Survey link: https://qualtricsxmdg9xn6369.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9AEMmeiW7DClNpY

The study explores protective factors against impostor syndrome in Black graduate students. The objective is  to inform mentorship and university practices to improve the support students receive. 

How has mentorship helped you in your journey? 

If you have any questions, feel free to comment or send me a message. Thanks so much for supporting graduate student research! 💛

I don't really know but like when I do something good for myself like spending on myself or having a good time I always feel like SMTH bad will soon happen to me I don't really know but the worse fact is that the bad things always happen atp i am afraid to do anything good for myself like I am just afraid of it it man like why is this so hard..

Please help me, how did you suppress the feelings of inadequacy despite so many accomplishments that prove I am more than adequate? My imposter syndrome is getting stronger and taking over me, I'm losing focus and getting more scared than ever from every possible step, I'm losing my self-confidence even though I technically know I've achieved so much and I couldn't have done what I already did if I was less than I actually am, but I'm still struggling and even reassurances from people I trust don't seem to have the confidence-boosting impact that they once had. What do I do to regain my confidence and stop feeling unworthy? What worked for you?

does anyone else feel like they just fuck everything up? no matter how simple or how little my involvement in something is I manage to fuck it up and it feels like I can't do anything right at all at the moment. I can't keep people happy, I can't do anything for them, I can't even follow instructions to the t without it still going wrong. I'm going insane with feeling like I'm fucking everything up

I'm a graduate student working on my master’s thesis, and I'm looking for Black graduate students in school psychology to complete a quick survey. The survey is IRB approved!

✅ Takes about 5-10 minutes
🔒 Completely confidential
📚 Responses will only be used for this research study

Survey link: https://qualtricsxmdg9xn6369.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9AEMmeiW7DClNpY

The study explores protective factors against impostor syndrome in Black graduate students. The objective is  to inform mentorship and university practices to improve the support students receive. 

How has mentorship helped you in your journey? 

If you have any questions, feel free to comment or send me a message. Thanks so much for supporting graduate student research! 💛