China
Africa
Explore chapters and articles related to this topic
What Makes Medicine Such a Difficult Task Master and Doctors at Higher Risk of Mental Illness?
Published in Clare Gerada, Zaid Al-Najjar, Beneath the White Coat, 2020
Perfectionism is one of the most pervasive personality traits found in doctors. Perfectionists strive for flawlessness and set extremely high standards for themselves and others, which can lead to individuals becoming increasingly self-critical.18,19 As the practise of medicine becomes less tolerant of mistakes, having perfectionists on the team is seen as positive and desirable and as such the wish for ‘the perfect doctor’ is a collective collusion between the doctor, the patient and the health system. This collusion is evidenced by the current ‘zero suicide’ initiatives, the quest for endlessly improving quality and the elimination of so-called ‘never events’ (which are, as they say, events that are deemed to be such catastrophic errors that they must never happen, such as amputating the wrong limb during an operation). Across the industralised world, young people now face tougher social and economic conditions than their parents and the increasing pressure to achieve is pervasive throughout their lives.20 Today’s students are under constant scrutiny, and they know it. Every attachment is graded, and these grades contribute to final scores, influencing the young doctor’s ability to obtain training posts, research grants and other positions. Striving for perfection has become the new norm.21
Family Strategies
Published in Elaine Kelman, Alison Nicholas, Palin Parent–Child Interaction Therapy for Early Childhood Stammering, 2020
Elaine Kelman, Alison Nicholas
Discussion: ‘The pros and cons of perfectionism’. We ask parents to consider the advantages and disadvantages of the child setting himself high standards and we consider with them the advantage of the concept of ‘good enough’.
Shame and Perfectionism
Published in Kate B. Daigle, The Clinical Guide to Fertility, Motherhood, and Eating Disorders, 2019
The dictionary describes perfectionism as “a personality trait characterized by a person’s striving for flawlessness and setting high performance standards, accompanied by critical self-evaluations and concerns regarding others’ evaluations.” It is also characterized by “refusal to accept any standard short of perfection.”2 The definition of perfectionism has been debated by researchers as of late, and its role in psychopathology such as depression, anxiety, and eating disorders is complicated. Kenneth Rice, PhD and his colleagues find it problematic that some call perfectionism “adaptive,” meaning that it serves a specific function to help an organism’s survival. He sets apart having high standards from the condition of perfectionism, which runs deeper into one’s self-concept and can cause “belief that others will value you only if you are perfect.” High standards might be adaptive in one situation but not another, or for certain people but not others, he says.3
The impact of obsessive-compulsive personality disorder in perfectionism
Published in International Journal of Psychiatry in Clinical Practice, 2023
Sarah A. Redden, Nora E. Mueller, Jesse R. Cougle
Perfectionism has been defined as a desire for flawlessness, which can lead to self-criticism, distress, and functional impairment (Shafran et al., 2002). Hewitt and Flett (1991) viewed perfectionism as holding high personal standards, believing others have high standards of them or having unrealistically high standards of others. A dimensional model was developed that characterised those with elevated perfectionism as having excessive concern over mistakes, high personal standards, an exaggerated emphasis on precision, order, and organisation, and doubts about their actions (Frost et al., 1990). In particular, the concern over the mistakes dimension of this model has been identified as representing a prominent feature of perfectionism (Shafran et al., 2017). Perfectionism is a transdiagnostic construct, and high levels of perfectionism have been associated with many disorders, including obsessive-compulsive disorder, social anxiety disorder, personality disorders, and depression (Dimaggio et al., 2015; Egan et al., 2011; Limburg et al., 2017). Perfectionism is also implicated in the development and maintenance of psychopathology, such that individuals with high levels of perfectionism are more likely to develop co-occurring psychopathology and have a more chronic course of their illness (Dimaggio et al., 2015; Shafran et al., 2017). Treatments that impact perfectionism also lead to reductions in anxiety, depression, and eating disorder symptoms (Egan et al., 2011). Thus, perfectionism is considered a transdiagnostic construct relevant to multiple psychiatric disorders.
Associations of dysfunctional attitudes, ruminations and metacognitive beliefs about rumination with pharmacological treatment response in patients with first episode of major depression
Published in International Journal of Psychiatry in Clinical Practice, 2023
İlker Özben, Güliz Şenormancı, Onur Okan Demirci, Ömer Şenormancı
When the effectiveness of SSRI treatment on DA was compared between the groups of patients with remission and non-remission, all subscale scores except the autonomous attitudes differed significantly between the groups; perfectionistic attitude was found to be associated with poor response to SSRIs. A perfectionistic attitude is related to having high personal standards, interpreting mistakes and shortcomings as inadequacies, and worrying about being evaluated negatively by others (Cane et al., 1986). In a previous study investigating the predictors of poor response to SSRI treatment in patients with depression, perfectionism was found to be associated with poor response to SSRIs, congruent with our results (Salazar-Fraile et al., 2018). Perfectionism is a transdiagnostic process related to anxiety disorders as well as depression and poor response to SSRIs (Egan et al. 2011; Selvi et al. 2011). The researchers have also suggested that the relationship between perfectionism and poor response to treatment may be related to the tendency of individuals with high levels of perfectionism to be dissatisfied with the applied treatment method and to evaluate the method as inadequate (Egan et al. 2011).
Perfectionism, Big Five and biopsychosocial functioning among parents of children with and without acquired brain injury (ABI)
Published in Brain Injury, 2022
Einat Yehene, Hadas Zukerman, Gil Goldzweig, Maya Gerner, Amichai Brezner, Jana Landa
Perfectionism is the degree to which an individual strives to reach excessively high standards (29). Perfectionism can be adaptive or maladaptive (30), hence viewed as normal or neurotic (29). Hewitt & Flett (31), noted three dimensions of perfectionism: self-oriented, focusing on one’s self-expectations; other-oriented, focusing on one’s expectations from others and socially oriented, focusing on society’s expectations from an individual. Overall, societal-oriented perfectionism has been consistently associated with negative outcomes (e.g., depression and reduced self-esteem), or linked to poorer adjustment to parenting (4,32). Self-oriented perfectionism was associated with rumination over failures and high anxiety but also with high motivation (33) and adaptive parenting (4). Despite some studies suggesting that parents may strive to restore the child and the family’s pre-injury standard of functioning while adjusting to the reality of imperfection and loss (34), perfectionism has not been investigated in the context of parenting a child with ABI.