When Perfect Isn't Good Enough by Martin M. Antony

Perfectionism becomes a problem when it has a negative effect on relationships or happiness or functioning. Someone may be a perfectionist at work, but be rather relaxed at home about standards for cleaning or cooking. People can be perfectionist in some situations and not others.

Perfectionists may be prone to anger, frustration and irritability because of the way they think things should be, but people and situations don’t meet their expectations.

Perfectionists can have standards so high that they actually interfere with performance.

People who are perfectionists tend to have standards and expectations that are difficult or even impossible to achieve.

The negative impact of perfectionism is that is it often associated with problems such as anxiety and depression, according to Anthony and Swinson.Ĭharacteristics of perfectionism include: Antony and Richard Swinson in their book, When Perfect Isn't Good Enough: Strategies for Coping with Perfectionism. “Perfectionism is a form of social anxiety,” according Martin M. When a child comes home with a report card with 5 A’s and one B, a perfectionist parent may say, “What happened? Why did you get a B?” Perfectionist parents can affect their children by making the child feel they’re never good enough. Some perfectionists may be afraid to speak in public, or sing, or may be overly concerned about how they dress, worrying that if they’re not perfect, they’ll be criticized by others. In that case, the stress or self-criticsm may outweigh the health benefits.

Working out at the gym or running can be good for health, but a perfectionist may overdo these activities or think it’s never enough. The perfectionist, therefore, may take on too many responsibilities and multiply the stress of the job. Perhaps a partner or spouse doesn’t clean to thoroughly enough, so the perfectionist partner does it alone, even while having lots of other responsibilities.Īt work, a perfectionist may not delegate, believing that others don’t work up to high enough standards. Some people, however, tend to confuse high standards and achievable goals with perfectionism. Having a good education, a satisfying job, vibrant health, friends, family, home, community activities and vacations are among the many things that add up to a good life. It’s physically and emotionally healthy to want to achieve and succeed. Perfectionism - Measuring Grass Blade Credit: Wikimedia

When Perfect Isn't Good Enough by Martin M. Antony