Dysfunctional Perfectionism: Causes, Symptoms And Treatment
Do you find it difficult to enjoy doing nothing? Do you feel guilty for not having done what, according to you, you should have done? Do you think you should always be able to do things better?
Are you never satisfied with the things you do? When you achieve something you set out to do, are you only able to enjoy it for a short period of time? Do you criticize yourself if you don’t reach your goal? What have you set for yourself? Do you focus too much on your mistakes? Do you feel like a failure if you don’t achieve what you set out to do? Do you tend to leave things for tomorrow or the last day?
If you answered yes to most of these questions, it is very possible that this article will interest you, since you could have fallen into dysfunctional perfectionism A phenomenon that, despite not being a mental disorder in itself, can cause us serious headaches.
Dysfunctional perfectionism (in English, “maladaptive perfectionism”) is the establishment and effort to meet overly demanding quality standards (lofty goals) for oneself, which are self-imposed and relentlessly pursued despite the suffering they generate.
It consists of focusing on errors rather than on the process and progress of the task, being excessively self-critical when goals are not satisfied (even calling the achievement achieved a failure), and valuing the achievement of goals in terms of all or nothing. (things are done either “right” or “wrong”). Furthermore, the perfectionist person persists despite the occurrence of adverse consequences (social isolation, insomnia, depression…).
Lastly, it involves basing one’s self-esteem almost exclusively on how well these lofty goals are pursued or achieved. This means that the self-esteem of these people is very fragile and changing: One day they may feel competent and happy for having achieved their goals, and the next day they may feel inept or a failure and think that they are “worthless.”
Areas of life in which one can be a perfectionist
Perfectionism can be present in every aspect of life. Some people will only be perfectionists in one area, such as work, but the most common is to have several vital areas in which perfectionism comes to light.
Let’s look at some examples, in which perhaps you can identify:
In short, any area that is important to that person. When dysfunctional perfectionism affects a hobby, such as music, it can become a source of anxiety and not pleasure. From the moment the activity is carried out to achieve a very demanding (and often unrealistic) objective and the process itself is not enjoyed, the activity can lose the playful and pleasant connotation that it initially had.
Most important components of dysfunctional perfectionism
According to Shafran, Egan and Wade (2010), the essential components of dysfunctional perfectionism are:
What are high goals or standards?
Establishing objectives and goals in life is something totally natural, and even adaptive, but in the case of perfectionist people it can be a problem It should be considered this way because by not achieving these objectives, perfectionist people can criticize themselves in a very unfair way, as if they lived a life of penitence and self-flagellation, and persist in their efforts despite suffering. The concept of “high goal” is very relative, since what may be demanding for one may not be so for another (e.g., for one, swimming 4 kilometers a day may be very demanding and demanding, but for Mireia Belmonte it may be easy peasy). What should be clear is that a standard is high when it is self-imposed by the person with perfectionism, is perceived as demanding (requires a lot of effort and sacrifice) and is pursued rigidly. But, If I impose demanding standards on myself, does that mean that I tend toward dysfunctional perfectionism? It is important to clarify that it is not enough that there are personally demanding standards to speak of dysfunctional perfectionism; A person can find satisfaction in working toward these standards and allowing himself to be flexible with his goals when the situation requires it (Shafran, Cooper, & Fairburn, 2002).
Negative consequences of dysfunctional perfectionism
Below we are going to detail the most frequent negative consequences:
One of the most appreciated global consequences is low self-esteem. That is, perfectionism is not the cause of low self-esteem, but rather it “feeds” it. A person with low self-esteem is more likely to take refuge in perfectionism to excel at something and thus be valued positively by themselves and others.
Relationship with procrastination or postponement
Procrastination, the habit of postponing tasks until the last moment, it is a very common behavior among perfectionist people. The reasons why it is postponed are several:
Is there treatment?
It must be taken into account that Dysfunctional perfectionism is not a disorder and, consequently, there is no specific treatment to manage it. However, we can speak of psychological intervention aimed at modifying the habits and beliefs on which it is based.
As each person has their own reasons for falling into extreme perfectionism, personalized attention is necessary that allows us to modify the way we relate to our expectations; in this sense, intervention based on cognitive-behavioral models It is usually the most used option, since it influences both internalized ideas and observable day-to-day actions.
Shafran, R., Cooper, Z., & Fairburn, C.G. (2002). Clinical perfectionism: a cognitive-behavioural analysis. Behavior Research and Therapy, 40, 773-791.
Shafran, R., Egan, S., & Wade, T. (2010). Overcoming perfectionism: A self-help manual using cognitive-behavioural techniques. London: Robinson.
Egan, S.J., Wade, T.D., Shafran, R., and Antony, M.M. (2014). Cognitive-behavioral treatment of perfectionism. New York: Guilford.
