19:00 EST, 14 April 2014
|
19:00 EST, 14 April 2014
Perfectionism
– setting yourself high standards at home or work – is seen as
laudable. But research suggests it has a dark flipside, causing not just
psychological stress as perfectionists feels the weight of pressure to
be perfect, but physical harm – irritable bowel disease (IBS), insomnia,
heart disease and even early death.
Experts such as Dr Danielle
Molnar, a psychologist at Brock University, Canada, are suggesting
perfectionism should be considered as a risk factor for disease in the
same way as obesity and smoking.
‘We’re always promoting
perfectionism and its benefits of academic and professional achievement,
but it’s such a strong factor for so many illnesses, including
increased infection and early death, that I think it should be
considered by doctors as part of a patient’s long-term health,’ says Dr
Molnar.
Perfectionism should be considered as a risk factor for disease in the same way as obesity and smoking
It’s estimated that two in five of us display perfectionist
tendencies. And thanks to social media, such as Facebook and Twitter,
increasing numbers are concerned about being – or appearing to be –
perfect, says Gordon Flett, professor of health psychology at York
University in Canada, who has studied the link between perfectionism and
health for 20 years.
‘It’s natural to want to be a perfectionist in
one area of your life, such as your job,’ he says. But when it becomes
an obsessive need for the perfect job, child, relationship, bank balance
and body, it causes extreme stress and can affect not only
relationships, but your health.
WHAT TYPE ARE YOU?
Professor Flett and his team have identified three types of perfectionist.
Self-oriented
perfectionists, who focus on their high personal standards of
perfection; other-oriented perfectionists, who have exacting standards
for those around them – ‘the chef Gordon Ramsay comes to mind,’ says
Professor Flett; and socially prescribed perfectionists, who believe
other people, such as their parents, bosses or colleagues, demand
perfection from them. He cites the example of tennis star Andre Agassi,
whose father ‘was a demanding other-oriented perfectionist. He’d send
1,000 balls to his son in the hot Florida climate, no matter how Andre
was feeling’.
‘Those demands to be perfect drove all the enjoyment
out of Agassi to the point he opened his autobiography many years later
with the words: “I hate tennis,�’ says Professor Flett.
Self-oriented perfectionists focus on their high personal standards of perfection
‘I don’t
know if he would attribute it to perfectionism, but Agassi suffered from
chronic back pain, which I believe could have roots in over-training
and over-striving as a child.’
Certainly research by Dr Molnar
suggests socially prescribed perfectionists suffer more physically. Her
study involved 500 adults aged 24 to 35 who took a questionnaire called
the Multi-Dimensional Perfectionism Scale, which determines if you’re a
perfectionist and, if so, which type.
The research, published in
2006, suggested socially prescribed perfectionists had worse physical
health, made more visits to the doctor and took more sick days.
Alarmingly,
another study found constantly striving for perfection could raise the
risk of premature death. In a six-year study, researchers at Trinity
Western University, Canada, studied 450 adults – non-perfectionists and
perfectionists – aged 65 and older. The perfectionists had a 51 per cent
greater risk of dying early.
So, what is going on? Part of the problem is that perfectionists rarely ask for help, says Dr Molnar.
‘Even
when they are getting social support from other people, they will often
interpret it as interfering and being judged as not being able to take
care of themselves.
‘Social support and community has been found in
numerous studies to be a leading contributor to health and increased
lifespan – perfectionists are often deprived of that.’
THE STRESS RESPONSE
Perfectionism
is also about being under continuous pressure to perform and this has
unhealthy consequences, says Professor Flett.
When the body is under
stress, the adrenal glands – above each kidney – release two brain
neurotransmitters, adrenaline and noradrenaline.
This prepares the
body for fight or flight by increasing the heart rate, blood pressure,
dilating the airways and coronary arteries and increasing metabolic
rate.
A study in 2011 at Tehran University, Iran, looked at what
happened in the bodies of perfectionists in a stressful situation –
where they had to complete an intelligence test in a set time – compared
with ‘hardy’ individuals, i.e., people who were more controlled and
resilient.
The perfectionists found the situation more stressful,
their blood pressure and heart rate increased and there were changes in
their breathing. Hardy candidates stayed calmer.
This is known as the
stress response, where activity in areas of the body not needed for
fight or flight is reduced, for instance in the immune system and the
skin.
But this response is designed to be over quickly so our bodies
can recover and rest, says Stephen Palmer, visiting professor of
psychology at Middlesex University.
‘If the stress response is
prolonged, the body is always in threat mode, which means the immune,
digestive, cardio- vascular and other systems suffer,’ he says.
It
doesn’t help that perfectionists – who often become doctors, lawyers,
editors, engineers and other occupations requiring exacting standards –
are at increased risk of workaholism.
4
The youngest age at which perfectionist tendencies have been observed
A study last August from the
University of Kent looked at 131 employees and found self-oriented
perfectionists were highly likely to be driven workaholics.
‘That
leads to exhaustion and when you’re depleted you’re a sitting duck in
terms of risk of illness, especially when exposed to viruses, because
the chronic stress they’re under compromises the immune system to such a
degree,’ says Professor Flett.
And perfectionists are also more likely to be insomniacs.
A
study in 2010 by the University of Coimbra, Portugal, found socially
prescribed perfectionists had more difficulty falling asleep and staying
asleep than other students.
‘Such people equate their self-worth
with their ability to meet the goals. If they fail, even in a small way,
their resulting emotions include “awfulisation†– labelling themselves
as failures,’ says Professor Palmer. As a result, they worry – no wonder
they can’t sleep!’
And when they fall ill, perfectionists can face another major problem.
‘They are not big on self-care,’ says Professor Flett.
‘They
often think “Why do I feel this way?†seeing their illness as a failure
and pushing themselves through it, not taking time to get better and
putting off seeking help. This slows recovery and can lead to further
illness.’
Last year, Professor Flett looked at 100 heart attack
patients and found the perfectionists recovered more slowly and were at
higher risk of further cardiac problems.
‘We identified three factors
in the lives of perfectionists that slowed down their recovery: stress
from the pressure they put on themselves; chronic negative emotions from
never feeling joy in their achievements; and lack of social support,’
he says.
If the stress response is prolonged, the body is always in threat mode, which means the immune, digestive, cardio- vascular and other systems suffer
This is backed up by a Dutch study published in the journal
Circulation in 2010, involving more than 6,000 heart disease patients.
Perfectionists with a negative outlook were three times more likely to
experience more heart problems than those with positive personalities.
LINKS TO IBS
Perfectionists
are more prone to developing IBS after a bout of food poisoning,
suggests 2007 research from the University of Auckland, New Zealand.
The
researchers followed up 620 people who had an acute episode of food
poisoning and found those who developed IBS were more likely to have
perfectionist tendencies, such as carrying on regardless until they were
forced to rest.
‘These are people who have high expectations of
needing to do the right thing. Taking time off work may go against their
beliefs,’ says Rona Moss-Morris, professor of psychology at the
Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, who led the research.
Those
who went on to develop IBS had impossibly high personal expectations,
then beat themselves up when they didn’t achieve them.
Ongoing,
relentless stress could certainly increase the risk of developing IBS.
Stress felt in the brain can have a direct effect on digestion through
symptoms such as bloating, diarrhoea and cramping, says Dr David
Forecast, a consultant gastroenterologist at the London Clinic.
‘The
chronic stress perfectionists put themselves under plays a part in the
development and exacerbation of IBS,’ says Dr Forecast.
He points to a
2011 study of 149 people published in the Journal of Research in
Medical Science that found those with characteristics which include
perfectionism had a 40.7 per cent chance of having IBS compared to 20
per cent in the general population. A large body of research has
associated perfectionism with increased risk of eating disorders such as
anorexia nervosa – a psychological disorder in which people reduce
their calorie intake until they become dangerously underweight and
unable to eat.
But more suprisingly, perfectionists are also more
likely to be binge eaters, research in 2009 in the Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology found.
‘The rigidity of their
perfectionism influences the rigidity of their dieting, so they set
themselves impossible goals of cutting out entire food groups or
subsisting on extreme low-calorie diets,’ says Roz Shafran, professor of
psychology at University College London and author of Overcoming
Perfectionism.
‘When they are unable to fit the rigid goals they set
for themselves, they binge. Eating can calm them momentarily, but that
leads to shame and guilt and more rigid control, so the cycle
continues.’
It’s been suggested that we evolved to strive for
perfection through a need to belong or fit in with our tribe, for
example by seeking approval with our accomplishments. Another theory is
that we strive to be perfect to find our role in society – by developing
expertise in a particular area – or to win affection from others.
However,
perfectionism is not all bad news for health. A study from Trinity
Western University followed 385 patients with type 2 diabetes for 6½
years and found that those with self-oriented perfectionism had a lower
risk of early death.
Moderate self-oriented perfectionists can make
good patients because they adhere to their doctor’s advice and apply
their perfectionism to looking after themselves, says Professor Flett.
In the case of the diabetes patients, they check blood sugar levels and adhere to strict diets.
But
perfectionists can change and reduce the negative effects, by learning
to accept themselves and mistakes without self-criticism.
‘Lower
your standards and accept the occasional failure as an essential
ingredient on the road to success,’ says Professor Flett.
‘Most
importantly, if perfectionists feel that they need help – physically or
emotionally – they mustn’t be afraid to seek it rather than suffering in
silence.’
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Comments (5)
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The comments below have not been moderated.
luluelle,
Somewhere, Monaco,
moments ago
This is so true for me. Especially the part about asking for help being viewed as a personal failure…
goodbye_liza_jane,
New York,
1 hour ago
Why do you illustrate “perfectionism†with photos of women doing housework?
texan-23,
dallas, United States,
21 minutes ago
luluelle,
Somewhere, Monaco,
moments ago
PrivateSi,
WORCS,
1 hour ago
I gave up on perfection shortly after achieving it…
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