What Is Perfectionism?

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Perfectionism is rising among college students and significantly impacts both achievement and well-being.

Perfectionism creates cycles of overwork, procrastination, and chronic stress and many to feel "enough."

Recognizing perfectionist patterns is the first step toward healthier thinking and behaviors.

Perfectionism is something we must pay attention to when it comes to college mental health. Many studies have shown that perfectionism is rising in college student populations. Recent surveys show that a majority of college students are struggling with perfectionism—65-84 percent—and it has a tremendous impact on achievement and well-being.

What is perfectionism?

Perfectionism isn’t simply about striving to do well or aiming for excellence. Perfectionism is the belief that we must do well every time and all the time and that how well we do is a measure of our value as a person.

A college student’s sense of self thus depends on how well they do in class, how good they look, how smart they are (compared to others), how many friends they have, and so on. Then, if something doesn’t go well, and things never go well all the time, it is not just........

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