Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Perfectionism

Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsUnderstanding PerfectionismOCD and PerfectionismCoping TipsLiving With OCD

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Table of Contents

Understanding Perfectionism

OCD and Perfectionism

Coping Tips

Living With OCD

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Perfectionism OCD, also referred to as"just right" OCD, is a subtype of obsessive-compulsive disorder that involves obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviors about making things “perfect.”

At a GlancePerfectionismalone is difficult enough to cope with, but it’s also long been thought to play a role in the development and maintenance ofobsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)and other forms of mental illness. Keep reading to learn more about the relationship between OCD and perfectionism and what you can do to cope.

At a Glance

Perfectionismalone is difficult enough to cope with, but it’s also long been thought to play a role in the development and maintenance ofobsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)and other forms of mental illness. Keep reading to learn more about the relationship between OCD and perfectionism and what you can do to cope.

What Is Perfectionism?

Before we talk about perfectionism andOCD, it’s important to define perfectionism. Some perfectionism can be helpful, making you more conscientious and goal-directed. Excessive perfectionism, on the other hand, can leave you stuck in a pattern of unrealistic expectations that has a negative impact on your well-being and ability to function.

So how can you know what is good (and not only good but ideal) and what is not? Research on perfectionism has indicated that there aretwo main types of perfectionism: adaptive/health perfectionism and maladaptive/unhealthy perfectionism.

Adaptive/Healthy Perfectionism

Maladaptive/Unhealthy Perfectionism

ADHD Symptom Spotlight: Perfectionism

The unhealthy form of perfectionism has been strongly linked to obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).Perfectionism appears to be particularly strong if you have a strong need for things to be done “just right” or require certainty.

Tied to a Need for Certainty

For example, unhealthy perfectionism tends to be very high if you feel that yourcompulsionshave to be done in exactly the right way. In these cases, it is not uncommon to believe that if the compulsion is carried out perfectly, a feared outcome, such as the death of a loved one, will be avoided.

May Increase Checking Behaviors

Unhealthy perfectionism tends to be high if yourOCD symptomsrevolve around checking.Specifically, if you do not feel you have perfect certainty that you have locked the door or turned off the stove, you might return to check these items repeatedly.

Checking over and over again reinforces the idea that you are not perfect or possibly even “losing your mind.” This can make you feel even worse and less self-confident which can then worsen checking behaviors.

Can Intensify Obsessions

Unhealthy OCD perfectionism may help to perpetuateobsessions.For instance, like many people with OCD, you might believe that you must have complete control over your thoughts.

When a bizarre or distressing thought pops intrusively into your mind, you label these thoughts as dangerous because they are out of your control. This causes you to monitor the thought even more closely, which can help to create an obsession.

Coping With OCD Perfectionism

What can you do to cope with OCD perfectionism? The first step is to recognize OCD in yourself as well as your perfectionistic tendencies. There are a few things that can work particularly well in coping.

Adopt a Mindful Stance

Mindfulnessemphasizes being less “invested” in our thoughts. Accepting that we have less control than we think over our thoughts can be very helpful in reducing the distress that often accompanies intrusive thoughts.Mindfulness meditation exercisescan help to promote a more objective awareness of our day-to-day thoughts and emotions.

Cognitive Behavioral Techniques

Techniques often used incognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)can also be helpful. Techniques such ascognitive restructuringand behavioral experiments can be helpful in learning to objectively evaluate the likelihood and/or consequences of making catastrophic or even minor mistakes.

Cognitive therapy can also be a useful tool for critically examining the beliefs we hold about ourselves and others. By working with a therapist, you can learn to identify and change these unhealthy beliefs and behaviors.

Practice Giving Up Control

As part of cognitive behavioral therapy and/orexposure and response prevention therapy, you may be asked to participate in exercises designed to builddistress tolerance. This is your capacity to tolerate a loss of control.

Examples include things that involve being prevented from checking something or adjusting something until it is “just right.” Although this can initially be extremely distressing, over time, you will gain more confidence in your ability to tolerate a loss of control.

Talking with a therapist is an excellent way to gain a greater understanding of your condition, and provides the feedback needed as you work to reduce the impact on your life.

Living With OCD Perfectionism

There are a number of things that you can do to address both symptoms of OCD as well as perfectionism. Some ideas:

Perhaps the most important point of noting the role of perfectionism with OCD, however, is to recognize how OCD is different for everyone. Whateverpersonality traitsa person has can come to play in the disorder.

Press Play for Advice On Dealing With Perfectionism

Summary

If you need help with symptoms of OCD, perfectionism, or both, talk to your doctor or a mental health professional. A therapist can help you navigate your journey through life with OCD. Studies suggest that between 32% and 70% of people with the condition can achieve remission,and others can find significant relief from their symptoms.

We Tested Online OCD Services So You Don’t Have To—Here, 9 Expert-Approved Picks

9 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Bieling PJ, Israeli AL, Antony MM.Is perfectionism good, bad, or both? Examining models of the perfectionism construct.Personality and Individual Differences.2004; 36: 1373-1385. doi:10.1016/S0191-8869(03)00235-6Limburg K, Watson HJ, Hagger MS, Egan SJ.The relationship between perfectionism and psychopathology: A meta-analysis.J Clin Psychol.2017;73(10):1301-1326. doi:10.1002/jclp.22435Soreni N, Streiner D, Mccabe R, et al.Dimensions of perfectionism in children and adolescents with obsessive-compulsive disorder.J Can Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry.2014;23(2):136-43.Hood HK, Antony MM.Treatment of perfectionism-related obsessive-compulsive disorder. In: Storch EA, Lewin AB, eds.Clinical Handbook of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders. Springer International Publishing; 2016:85-97. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-17139-5_7Pozza A, Albert U, Dèttore D.Perfectionism and intolerance of uncertainty are predictors of OCD symptoms in children and early adolescents: A prospective, cohort, one-year, follow-up study.Clin Neuropsychiatry. 2019;16(1):53-61.Pinto A, Dargani N, Wheaton MG, Cervoni C, Rees CS, Egan SJ.Perfectionism in obsessive-compulsive disorder and related disorders: What should treating clinicians know?Journal of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders. 2017;12:102-108. doi:10.1016/j.jocrd.2017.01.001James K, Rimes KA.Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy versus pure cognitive behavioural self-help for perfectionism: A pilot randomised study.Mindfulness (N.Y). 2018; 9(3): 801-814. doi:10.1007/s12671-017-0817-8Sadri SK, Anderson RA, Mcevoy PM, Kane RT, Egan SJ.A pilot investigation of cognitive behavioural therapy for clinical perfectionism in obsessive compulsive disorder.Behav Cogn Psychother. 2017;45(3):312-320. doi:10.1017/S1352465816000618Burchi E, Hollander E, Pallanti S.From treatment response to recovery: a realistic goal in OCD.International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology. 2018;21(11):1007-1013. doi:10.1093/ijnp/pyy079

9 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Bieling PJ, Israeli AL, Antony MM.Is perfectionism good, bad, or both? Examining models of the perfectionism construct.Personality and Individual Differences.2004; 36: 1373-1385. doi:10.1016/S0191-8869(03)00235-6Limburg K, Watson HJ, Hagger MS, Egan SJ.The relationship between perfectionism and psychopathology: A meta-analysis.J Clin Psychol.2017;73(10):1301-1326. doi:10.1002/jclp.22435Soreni N, Streiner D, Mccabe R, et al.Dimensions of perfectionism in children and adolescents with obsessive-compulsive disorder.J Can Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry.2014;23(2):136-43.Hood HK, Antony MM.Treatment of perfectionism-related obsessive-compulsive disorder. In: Storch EA, Lewin AB, eds.Clinical Handbook of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders. Springer International Publishing; 2016:85-97. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-17139-5_7Pozza A, Albert U, Dèttore D.Perfectionism and intolerance of uncertainty are predictors of OCD symptoms in children and early adolescents: A prospective, cohort, one-year, follow-up study.Clin Neuropsychiatry. 2019;16(1):53-61.Pinto A, Dargani N, Wheaton MG, Cervoni C, Rees CS, Egan SJ.Perfectionism in obsessive-compulsive disorder and related disorders: What should treating clinicians know?Journal of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders. 2017;12:102-108. doi:10.1016/j.jocrd.2017.01.001James K, Rimes KA.Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy versus pure cognitive behavioural self-help for perfectionism: A pilot randomised study.Mindfulness (N.Y). 2018; 9(3): 801-814. doi:10.1007/s12671-017-0817-8Sadri SK, Anderson RA, Mcevoy PM, Kane RT, Egan SJ.A pilot investigation of cognitive behavioural therapy for clinical perfectionism in obsessive compulsive disorder.Behav Cogn Psychother. 2017;45(3):312-320. doi:10.1017/S1352465816000618Burchi E, Hollander E, Pallanti S.From treatment response to recovery: a realistic goal in OCD.International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology. 2018;21(11):1007-1013. doi:10.1093/ijnp/pyy079

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Bieling PJ, Israeli AL, Antony MM.Is perfectionism good, bad, or both? Examining models of the perfectionism construct.Personality and Individual Differences.2004; 36: 1373-1385. doi:10.1016/S0191-8869(03)00235-6Limburg K, Watson HJ, Hagger MS, Egan SJ.The relationship between perfectionism and psychopathology: A meta-analysis.J Clin Psychol.2017;73(10):1301-1326. doi:10.1002/jclp.22435Soreni N, Streiner D, Mccabe R, et al.Dimensions of perfectionism in children and adolescents with obsessive-compulsive disorder.J Can Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry.2014;23(2):136-43.Hood HK, Antony MM.Treatment of perfectionism-related obsessive-compulsive disorder. In: Storch EA, Lewin AB, eds.Clinical Handbook of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders. Springer International Publishing; 2016:85-97. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-17139-5_7Pozza A, Albert U, Dèttore D.Perfectionism and intolerance of uncertainty are predictors of OCD symptoms in children and early adolescents: A prospective, cohort, one-year, follow-up study.Clin Neuropsychiatry. 2019;16(1):53-61.Pinto A, Dargani N, Wheaton MG, Cervoni C, Rees CS, Egan SJ.Perfectionism in obsessive-compulsive disorder and related disorders: What should treating clinicians know?Journal of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders. 2017;12:102-108. doi:10.1016/j.jocrd.2017.01.001James K, Rimes KA.Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy versus pure cognitive behavioural self-help for perfectionism: A pilot randomised study.Mindfulness (N.Y). 2018; 9(3): 801-814. doi:10.1007/s12671-017-0817-8Sadri SK, Anderson RA, Mcevoy PM, Kane RT, Egan SJ.A pilot investigation of cognitive behavioural therapy for clinical perfectionism in obsessive compulsive disorder.Behav Cogn Psychother. 2017;45(3):312-320. doi:10.1017/S1352465816000618Burchi E, Hollander E, Pallanti S.From treatment response to recovery: a realistic goal in OCD.International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology. 2018;21(11):1007-1013. doi:10.1093/ijnp/pyy079

Bieling PJ, Israeli AL, Antony MM.Is perfectionism good, bad, or both? Examining models of the perfectionism construct.Personality and Individual Differences.2004; 36: 1373-1385. doi:10.1016/S0191-8869(03)00235-6

Limburg K, Watson HJ, Hagger MS, Egan SJ.The relationship between perfectionism and psychopathology: A meta-analysis.J Clin Psychol.2017;73(10):1301-1326. doi:10.1002/jclp.22435

Soreni N, Streiner D, Mccabe R, et al.Dimensions of perfectionism in children and adolescents with obsessive-compulsive disorder.J Can Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry.2014;23(2):136-43.

Hood HK, Antony MM.Treatment of perfectionism-related obsessive-compulsive disorder. In: Storch EA, Lewin AB, eds.Clinical Handbook of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders. Springer International Publishing; 2016:85-97. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-17139-5_7

Pozza A, Albert U, Dèttore D.Perfectionism and intolerance of uncertainty are predictors of OCD symptoms in children and early adolescents: A prospective, cohort, one-year, follow-up study.Clin Neuropsychiatry. 2019;16(1):53-61.

Pinto A, Dargani N, Wheaton MG, Cervoni C, Rees CS, Egan SJ.Perfectionism in obsessive-compulsive disorder and related disorders: What should treating clinicians know?Journal of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders. 2017;12:102-108. doi:10.1016/j.jocrd.2017.01.001

James K, Rimes KA.Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy versus pure cognitive behavioural self-help for perfectionism: A pilot randomised study.Mindfulness (N.Y). 2018; 9(3): 801-814. doi:10.1007/s12671-017-0817-8

Sadri SK, Anderson RA, Mcevoy PM, Kane RT, Egan SJ.A pilot investigation of cognitive behavioural therapy for clinical perfectionism in obsessive compulsive disorder.Behav Cogn Psychother. 2017;45(3):312-320. doi:10.1017/S1352465816000618

Burchi E, Hollander E, Pallanti S.From treatment response to recovery: a realistic goal in OCD.International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology. 2018;21(11):1007-1013. doi:10.1093/ijnp/pyy079

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