The benefits of not being perfect

[littlemissmartypants]

The benefits of not being perfect
Many think that perfectionism is a good trait, but it researchers have found it can have a dangerous affect on mental health – and it’s on the rise

30 August 2019


You sit in a job interview, nervously sweating through every question thrown at you, and then comes the hardest one of all: “What is your worst quality?” Being a perfectionist is regularly thought of as a good answer – you might hope your fastidiousness will help you secure the role. But is perfectionism actually a good trait?

( http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20180219-toxic-perfectionism-is-on-the-rise )

[Excerpt* from The Dangerous Downsides of Perfectionism
... the drawback of perfectionism isn’t just that it holds you back from being your most successful, productive self. Perfectionistic tendencies have been linked to a laundry list of clinical issues: depression and anxiety (even in children), self-harm, social anxiety disorder and agoraphobia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, binge eating, anorexia, bulimia, and other eating disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, chronic fatigue syndrome, insomnia, hoarding, dyspepsia, chronic headaches, and, most damning of all, even early mortality and suicide....]

To be a healthy and successful human, you have to learn from your mistakes; and to be able to learn from your mistakes, you have to be comfortable with making them. But in general, perfectionists are not. They tend to avoid making mistakes by sticking to tasks they feel most comfortable with or overreacting to obstacles, feeling more guilt, shame and anger when they do make mistakes.

Perfectionism in on the rise and has been linked by to a whole host of mental health problems including depression, anxiety and self-harm.

*(You can read more about the downsides of perfectionism here: http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20180219-toxic-perfectionism-is-on-the-rise )

Learn more about the dangerous downsides of perfectionism, by clicking play on the video above. (At the link: http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20190829-the-benefits-of-not-being-perfect)