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I don't identify with the self-criticism or the rage much at all. For me the problem with perfectionism is just how good it feels to edit every little word of a

• projektir 9y ago
  Perfectionism is a bit more loaded term than this, I would just call this attention to detail / enjoyment of order. If you don't dislike yourself when you send an email with typos, it's probably not perfectionism.
  • hanniabu 9y ago
    I Agree. It really is debilitating for those that have it in its truest form. From the ridiculous amount of time it takes to do simple tasks to the amount of anxiety you get when you know what you have is good enough and there's a deadline approaching and/or you have a ton of other things to do, but you just can't call it quits because of all those little details that aren't up to standard. And it makes it even worse when you're spending this extra time to go that extra mile and you're fully aware how nonsensical and irrelevant it all is but still can't let it go.
• munificent 9y ago
  That's conscientiousness[1], another related psychological attribute. If you get a positive emotional response from doing well, that's adaptive. It's the dark side where you beat yourself up over tiny flaws that tips you towards perfectionism. I've got plenty of both. For example, I love hand-writing and good pens and paper, but I never get journals to write in. I know that as soon as I made a single error, the entire journal would feel tainted to me and I would no longer get any satisfaction from writing in it. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conscientiousness https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conscientiousness