Even so, had he joined DEShaw he would still have the syndrome which could easily affect his work there (as a self-fulfilled prophecy). Happens all the time.

Being around people who I feel are better than me just pushes me to become even better.

Doesn't sound to me like he's really suffering. Suffering requires someone to suffer. And no, to me this isn't really pedantry.

Indeed. Underestimating your abilities is no fun, but if your estimation of your math skills is all that's keeping you from life as a quant let me be the first to tell you you suck at math.