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[–] PleaseDontEatMe 1 point 13 points (+14|-1) ago 

Perfectionism can be one of the side of effects of low self-esteem and feeling "unworthy" (in CBT this is explained in theory as having a core belief of unworthiness and not being good enough, and the belief that one has to be perfect in order to please others or be worthy in the eyes of others). I used to be a perfectionist and I still struggle with it. I only skimmed this article and all I saw was bullshit after bullshit claim blaming competitiveness and magazine covers and all that shit.

I'm sick of these "experts" acting like other generations have never had magazines and role models and beautiful body standards to live up to, and acting like competition is a bad thing. It's like they can't handle anyone being better at them at anything!

I'll tell you what is causing a rise of perfectionism in society - the lack of competition and giving everyone a god damn participation trophy for "trying". By not rewarding people who put in effort, and reinforcing the idea of equality and that everyone is equally capable of everything - THAT is what is causing a rise in perfectionism.

For example, riddle me this: How are you supposed to know if you really are capable of and right for the job if you're merely being hired to fill a quota based on your sex or the colour of your skin? Rather than feeling like you earned what you worked for, you're left doubting "did I really earn this?" "Was I really the best person for the job?" To compensate that feeling a lot of people decide that in order to prove that they are worthy of having what they worked for, they have to be perfect at it. Many people in this mindset tend to just give in if they make too many mistakes or cannot hit the goals they set.

Personally I believe that the biggest cause for the rise in perfectionism is rewarding people for putting in no effort and creating this weird sense of uncertainty and insecurity for everyone else. I won't deny that having parents who push you to be better all the time can also create a sense of needing to be perfect, but I truly believe that the culture of rewarding everyone for doing nothing is what is driving a large portion of this shit.

That's just my opinion though.

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[–] Asinthe 0 points 1 point (+1|-0) ago 

This is perfect (pun!) summary of perfectionism. The constant doub in ones ability is soul crushing. Its eating you up from the inside. And than guilt for even slight sign of what you call "weakness". No place for eorrors, mistakes, no slip ups. Lack of any empathy towards yourself because even if you break a leg and cant walk, you still can crawl.. Because nothing is an excuse good enough for yourself because everything is just... An excuse....