,
6 tweets,
2 min read
Read on Twitter
Are you a perfectionist? There’s an epidemic of perfectionism sweeping across the western world, as our cover feature this week explores 👇
Perfectionism is hard to pin down, but if you strongly agree with statements like “I strive to be the best at everything I do” then you could be affected
Perfectionism has risen dramatically in the past three decades, according to @APA, especially among young people. This has been linked to the social factors that have changed in recent decades - such as the rise in the use of social media
Researchers say this could have alarming implications for the mental health of young people. People with eating disorders, anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder and depression have higher levels of perfectionism compared with people who don’t have these conditions
Physical health may also be affected due to the stress that perfectionists subject themselves to, which increases the risk of things like heart disease. Perfectionists also cope less well when they are ill because they experience higher levels of anger, depression and anxiety
There are lots of ways to help perfectionists see that things don’t have to be perfect to be great: talking therapy, self-help books, being easier on yourself, putting yourself out of your comfort zone - and reading our feature 👉newscientist.com/article/mg2433…
