Perfectionism
It’s one thing to like things a certain way. It is another to need things to be a certain way. This need, also known as perfectionism, “goes hand in hand with anxiety disorders,” says Winston. She goes on to say that, “if you are constantly judging yourself or you have a lot of anticipatory anxiety about making mistakes or falling short of your standards, then you probably have an anxiety disorder.” Perfectionism is the main component of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), a type of anxiety disorder.
According to Winston, “OCD can happen subtly, like in the case of somebody who can’t get out of the house for three hours because their makeup has to be absolutely just right and they have to keep starting over.” OCD is not only associated with perfectionism, but obsessive thoughts that leads the sufferer to perform different compulsions (such as hand-washing or checking locks) on order to try and make these thoughts go away. Unfortunately, performing this compulsive act usually only offers relief for a limited amount of time.
