“Wouldn't it be good if your surgeon, or your lawyer or financial advisor, is a perfectionist?” said Thomas S. Greenspon, a psychologist and author of a recent paper on an “antidote to perfectionism,” published in Psychology in the Schools.
“Actually, no. Research confirms that the most successful people in any given field are lesslikely to be perfectionistic, because the anxiety about making mistakes gets in your way,” he continued. “Waiting for the surgeon to be absolutely sure the correct decision is being made could allow me to bleed to death.”
But the dangers of perfectionism, and particularly the link to suicide, have been overlooked at least partially because perfectionists are very skilled at hiding their pain.
In more than 20 years of research, he and his colleagues--particularly psychologist Gordon Flett, PhD--have found that perfectionism correlates with depression, anxiety, eating disorders and other mental health problems. This summer, several new studies were published that help explain how perfectionism can contribute to psychopathology.
A certain type of perfectionism can lead to depression, anxiety and eating disorders. A dark type of perfectionism focusing primarily on anxieties about being perfect can hurt many areas of people’s lives, a new review reports.
Perfectionism of this type involves constantly worrying about reaching impossibly high standards and making mistakes. It also involves worrying about letting others down. The psychologists found that the personality trait was most strongly linked to burnout at work.
This may be because high performance in the workplace can often go unrewarded.
The ‘good type of perfectionism in contrast, a related personality trait which focuses on striving for perfection is linked to more positive outcomes.
People who set themselves high goals and work torwards them pro-actively do better than those who focus on their anxieties. The conclusions come from a review of 43 different studies conducted over 20 years.
Being an anxious perfectionist has been linked to all kinds of health problems including depression, anxiety, eating disorders and even early death.
Most people have some tendencies towards perfectionism in some parts of their lives. Dr Hill said: “People need to learn to challenge the irrational beliefs that underlie perfectionistic concerns by setting realistic goals, accepting failure as a learning opportunity, and forgiving themselves when they fail. Creating environments where creativity, effort and perseverance are valued also would help.”
