The Perfectionism Epidemic

We live in a society where failure is seen as weakness, and anything less than perfect is seen as a failure

The first time I heard the term “perfectionism” was when I was 16. My teacher referred to it as a potential answer to the job interview question: “What is your biggest weakness?” Little did she realize that it was the truth for many students in the class who had spent the last 12 years in a school that served detentions for crossing things out or using an ink eraser in their school books.

From the age of seven, I was indoctrinated to believe that perfection was the only standard and that anything less was not only disgraceful but deserving of punishment. Once a week, we were made to demonstrate that our skirts reached our ankles. Our hemlines had to cover our knees at all times, but they couldn’t be too long either, as it made a girl look “messy.” Our hair ties could only be brown, black, or red, and our heels were measured against a ruler anytime a teacher got a sweeping suspicion the wedge was too high.

Perfectionism isn’t some complimentary flaw to boast about at job interviews or to your friends; real, chronic perfectionism is debilitating and life-threatening.