What Does It Really Mean To Have An "Inferiority Complex"?

"An inferiority complex is an intense feeling of personal inadequacy that stems from a belief that the person is deficient or has certain limitations as compared to others," explains board-certified psychiatrist Nereida Gonzalez-Berrios, M.D.

People with this complex often compare themselves with others and consistently believe that they are not good enough, she says. "This is an erroneous belief that the person possesses things that can affect mental well-being and social life. They feel that they will not be able to cope with certain aspects of their life because of some real or imagined physical or psychological deficiency."

The thought of imminent failure can become a self-fulfilling prophecy, because a person struggling with an inferiority complex may completely disregard their positive qualities and self-sabotage.

The term inferiority complex was coined in 1907 by Austrian psychoanalyst Alfred Adler, who believed that the conscious or subconscious overcompensation for these feelings of inadequacy led to many other mental and emotional conditions. Adler posited that everyone was motivated to define and achieve their own sense of fulfillment, but to reach that desired point, we all must balance between cooperating with others (family, classmates, co-workers, and society at large) and striving for greater things. When these elements are off-balance, he posited that it could result in either an inferiority complex, a tendency to over-accommodate and to underestimate our value in comparison to others—or a superiority complex, a pattern of behavior that assumes that a person's abilities and accomplishments are far better than others'. 

In the 90 years since Adler first defined the term, our notion of an inferiority complex has evolved. Today, mental health professionals recognize inferiority and superiority complexes as different sides of the same coin, with superiority complexes typically a cover-up for an inferiority complex. According to Arash Javanbakht, M.D., a psychiatrist and director of the Stress, Trauma & Anxiety Research Clinic at Wayne State University, the term "inferiority complex" is no longer in use in clinical diagnostics either. That said, "extremely low self-esteem, which is not founded in truth or a reasonable cause, is not good—it's never normal. I would always see it as pathological."

According to Gonzalez-Berrios, primary inferiority starts in early childhood as a result of parents or guardians making comparisons between children.

Understanding when and how these feelings of inferiority developed is key to figuring out how best to remedy them, Javanbakht explains.

Some people have been chronically exposed to comments or circumstances that reinforce their low opinion of themselves, he says. For example, these opinions could have come from a condition, like a learning disability or a physical limitation, that was either never diagnosed or addressed properly. Being bullied for those limitations could cause a person to develop negative ideas about themselves that are extremely difficult to dismantle. In such a case, a person's belief may be deeply held because their experience reinforces it.

"Our thoughts and our emotions are always linked to each other," Javanbakht says. "While the reality is that each of us might have a weakness, one may—because of the chronicity of this condition or because of his or her environment—focus too much on that weakness."

Treatment of the root of the pathology—whether that's anxiety, depression, systemic issues, or something else—will ease symptoms and minimize the effects of low self-esteem or feelings of inferiority. Depending on the underlying cause, psychotherapy or medical treatments could really improve a person's quality of life and, thus, their self-perception. 

In psychotherapy or talk therapy, a trained psychologist would cultivate a relationship with the person in question and would listen carefully to their self-talk. A therapist knows how to deal with low self-esteem and they—unlike well-meaning family and friends—wouldn't just dismiss worrisome inner dialogue. Instead, psychologists would work with a person to challenge their thinking by providing counterpoints to reconsider the distorted ideas that they carry about their worth, value, or capabilities in comparison to others.

"If they have a more biological reason, then medication can help a lot," Javanbakht adds, noting that a psychiatrist might be needed to prescribe the best solution.