Perfectionism and Self-Care

""Oh, you know me; I'm a perfectionist." Many, if not most, of us have either heard someone else say something like that or we've uttered it ourselves. But what does that really mean? What if there's more than one kind of perfectionism, and what kinds of coping techniques might be useful for someone who identifies as a perfectionist? In a recent study, researchers built on prior work by looking at changes in how much people were using mindfulness and self-compassion techniques over a two-week period."

"They studied how people's use of these approaches was linked to how they felt (i.e., emotions that felt pleasant or difficult). They also examined how much people experienced two kinds of perfectionism. This allowed them to identify how shifts in different mindfulness and self-compassion techniques were connected to how people felt at the time, rather than asking folks to think back and recall their experiences."

Two distinct forms of perfectionism are described: self-critical perfectionism, marked by harsh self-evaluation and distress about potential errors, and personal standards perfectionism, marked by high personal expectations and lofty benchmarks. Changes in use of mindfulness skills and self-compassion techniques over a two-week period were linked to momentary pleasant and difficult emotions. Mindfulness skills assessed included observing, describing, acting with awareness, and nonjudgmental acceptance. Six elements of self-compassion were also measured. Measuring in-the-moment shifts in technique use allowed connections between specific skills and concurrent emotional states rather than relying on retrospective recall. Both mindfulness and self-compassion related to emotional benefits across perfectionism types.

Read at Psychology Today