Thaindian News

July 13, 2010 (Pen Men at Work): As we all know, perfectionists are the ones who strive for the best in everything they do. They are usually looked up to as role models as well. However, in a stunning new discovery, it has been found that being a perfectionist might severely harm one’s health.

In order to have a perfect, fit body people undergo a lot of strenuous exercises and also at the same time be on strict diets. Ironically, these strict regimes may give rise to mental disorder, anguish and pressure. Flett, along with his team of expert researchers have developed a questionnaire comprising of 45 questions. This has been done to properly identify the three different kinds of perfectionists.

The three types of perfectionists are: self-oriented perfectionists who expect nothing but perfection from their own selves; the other-oriented perfectionists who demand perfection from other people and the socially prescribed perfectionists who think that the other people demand perfection from them.

Like everything in this world, being a ‘perfectionist’ also has it’s merits and demerits. Nothing in the word is flawless and quite ironically, the word ‘perfectionist’ is also tainted by this flaw. Flett is also the CRC or the Canada Research Chair in the Personality and Health Department. He further says that some types of perfectionism can somehow be connected to an unholy array of anguish and difficulties. These problems can be emotional, physical and even relationship oriented. A person might undergo severe depression, eating problems, marriage related issues and even contemplate suicide. An extreme kind of perfectionism can be classified as a disease much like narcissism.