- Username
- pluralines
- Date posted
- 4y ago
Perfectionism can be related to OCD or OCPD. With OCD, the anxiety that comes with the possibility of having less than perfect outcomes is what leads to the compulsions. There's a lot shame underlying this form of perfectionism. With OCPD, the person rarely experiences anxiety and does not perform compulsions to reduce anxiety since anxiety rarely exists from their perfectionistic behaviors. The reason is because the OCPD person does not think their perfectionism is an impairment in any way but, in fact, the right way of doing a task. Moreover, they strongly believe that everyone around them should do a task similarly because it the "right way." Which category do you think you might fall in, OCD perfectionism or OCPD perfectionism?
Fantastic distinction between the two!
@Fear Strikes Out Both lol
personally, I just feel like I have to perfect everything. like, if I write someone a letter I make several drafts and will rewrite cards until my handwriting looks perfect and neat and the words are right. and I have the bad habit of thinking "if I can't make it perfect I have to give up entirely" for some things. like, if something isn't perfect it just isn't good enough and everyone will hate me or something. unrealistic, but that's how it feels
In other words it’s “my way or the highway” and if you’re not being perfect you are inferior to me....lol
Are you married? 😉
@Fear Strikes Out Divorced for 27 years. Married for only 5 years.
@Mike1234 Was your rigidity and perfectionism a contributing factor in your divorce?
@Fear Strikes Out Yes. She used to say “You think your better than everyone else”. It was just my ocd trying to make things perfect and not making waves.
@Mike1234 Now I’m terrified of getting into a relationship because of past failures, doubt and uncertainty. I’ve been frozen in time with previous relationships only last around 2 years at a time. The stress and anxiety makes it difficult to maintain them and I’m resigned to singleness. I feel I operate better on my own because of fearfulness and avoidance.
@Mike1234 It’s very painful to me. I feel like ocd has ruined my life. Like a boat anchor, it’s holding me down.
@Mike1234 Ever heard of Radically Open Dialectical Behavior Therapy (RO DBT)? https://www.psychologytools.com/articles/using-radically-open-dialectical-behavior-therapy-ro-dbt-to-treat-problems-of-overcontrol/
Wow. Very enlightening. I’m going to discus with my PhD therapist next Wednesday. Thanks 😊
Symmetrical & precision or perfectionist ocd causes me to see everything out of place. Not lined up or not perfect from documentation to items in fridge to labels on bottles to items on walls to everyday tasks that must be completed perfectly. Things take forever to complete if done at all because they must be perfect. To relationships people not being just right to rigid standards etc... it’s an endless need to have control over everything in life. To perfect size the world. It’s time consuming and exhausting.
Alignment of throw carpets, pictures on the wall, coasters aligned with table corners, carpets with specks or crumbs it’s not in perfect order. Books cannot have creased covers, desktop icons must be aligned, lists and instructions laminated and typed perfectly, researching everything to perfection, items stacked just right, stamps on envelopes aligned perfectly in the corner of envelopes, projects must be done with extreme detail, can’t exercise unless everything is perfect. Binge eating, buying, gambling, hoarding everything to feel “just right”.
My dopamine receptors are thirsty.
If things are out of place around me like pictures on walls or ornaments etc I cannot concentrate properly, when I make things on my laptop for work I spend forever getting it just right, and when I put my hair up in a ponytail it takes me endless attempts and up to 80 minutes until it’s perfect, causes me a lot of stress and anxiety 😞
Ever done an imaginal script for the ponytail? That is, write down your worst fears if you do not have the perfect ponytail. Then, the next time you wear a ponytail, you are only allowed 5 attempts to make it "perfect." At the end of the day, check your list from your imaginal script and see how many of the catastrophic things that you have written down in your imaginal script actually happened. This is a great opportunity to test whether your worst fears are rational or not.
My therapist brought up the concept of perfectionism. I never had considered this in my ocd but wow was he right. I see it as I reflect. I thought I was strictly pure o (HOCD, SOCD). What’s everyone know about the manifestation of perfectionism in OCD?
Hi everyone. I hope you’re all well. Thanks for the space in the community ?? I’ve been diagnosed with OCD in the past month. For the past 2 years, I’ve had obsessive thoughts related to religion, existentialism, health, numbers, and harm. I have mainly mental compulsions, and a few related to numbers. In the past week, the harm thoughts have got out of hand. I want to share the particular thoughts I’ve had recently, but I’m worried that these are not normal, or not OCD. I’m worried that I’m going act out on these, or that it’s actually want I want to do. I’m scared I’ll be judged. I didn’t want these thoughts, but I worry that it’s happened because of my past mistakes and negative emotions. They feel horrible. At the moment, the anxiety is there, but I feel more numb and depressed. I‘m doubting whether I’ve lost emotion or insight, as it’s becoming harder to rationalize. Before I share the thoughts in a separate post, I’d like to ask: 1. How bad, in terms of thought content, can OCD get? 2. Does anyone else question whether it’s something worse than OCD? 3. Is it normal to feel numb and low after feeling anxious, by OCD? 4. Does anyone take Escitalopram (Lexapro) for their OCD? Any help or conversation would be much appreciated
Do some OCD sufferers legit have these themes as their absolute biggest struggles? People always say like “ugh I can’t have things not in order, my OCD gets in the way” or something, but really whenever I hear anyone say that I assume there’s no way they actually have legit OCD. I’m just curious, do you know if these are in fact the biggest struggles for some OCD sufferers?
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