[Music]

"I've always felt like I need to do the
best in most aspects of my life.
I feel so much pressure and it
definitely makes me incredibly anxious
and stressed. Even though I'm a good 
student, I often doubt myself which 
is really difficult to overcome.
I struggle to believe that I have any
chance of achieving the goals I set for
myself. When I'm always so stressed,
it affects my uni work as well.
Sometimes I really go the extra mile to
the point where I'm doing all of this
extra unnecessary work. Other times, 
I just procrastinate because I feel 
like I can't finish my work to the 
standard I want. I found that not 
getting tied up in the little details 
and looking at a bigger picture can 
help. I try to remember that the most 
important thing is that I did the 
best I could and that's all I can
expect from myself."

Perfectionism can be an issue for many
university students. For some people,
perfectionism may have always been a
part of who they are, and the focus 
placed on achievement and excellence 
at university can really bring it out.
People may be perfectionistic about some
areas of their lives and relaxed about
others. Having high standards for 
yourself is not necessarily a bad 
thing. In fact, we can use it to 
motivate ourselves to do a good job 
and to reach bigger and better goals.
However, perfectionism can be detrimental
to your mental health if it gets in the
way of your ability to start and finish
tasks, or if you never feel like you can
live up to the standards that you set
for yourself. Someone who is a perfectionist
will hold themselves to a higher standard 
than most other people and this often
involves striving for something that is 
out of reach or impossible to achieve.

There are two types of perfectionism,
each with different consequences.
People who experience an adaptive type
of perfectionism strive for their goals
and have high standards for themselves
but are not likely to criticise
themselves too harshly if their goals
are not met. On the other hand, some 
people experience a type of perfectionism 
where they immerse themselves in the 
pursuit of goals that may be unattainable.
If they are unable to reach their goals,
they often feel high levels of anxiety, a
strong fear of failure, and find it
difficult to feel happy about their
efforts no matter how well they've done.
It's estimated that this type of
perfectionism is a significant issue at
university, with up to 25% of students
showing these tendencies. You may 
remember in the module on tackling 
negative and anxious thoughts that 
we talked about thought diaries and 
how they can be helpful in 
understanding and challenging 
unhelpful thoughts.

If perfectionism is affecting any aspect 
of your life, then it might be helpful
to revisit this exercise. First, let's 
consider some unhelpful thoughts that may
be associated with perfectionism. 
Sometimes perfectionism reflects an
underlying fear or insecurity. For 
example, "if I don't do everything to a high
standard, my performance might slip".
Or, perfectionism may be linked to how
others see us. For example, "my friends and
family won't think highly of me if I'm
not always excellent or outstanding at
what I do". Another example might be, "if 
I don't get a high distinction in this 
assignment, then I don't deserve to be 
doing this degree". Can you recognize 
any unhelpful thinking patterns here?
Can these thoughts be modified slightly?
For example, "it's not possible to do
everything perfectly" and "I can still do
really well on an assignment even if
it's not perfect". We've provided a
list of common thoughts that perfectionists
can have in the exercise attached to this
module. Have a look and see if you
recognise any of them in you.

You can also tackle perfectionism by
taking a look at your behaviour.
Think about what you might do because of
perfectionism and also what you avoid
doing because of perfectionism.
It's common for perfectionists to check
their work over and over again in case
they've made a mistake. Perfectionists
can also put off or take excessive 
amounts of time to complete tasks.
If either of these happen to you, try and
challenge these behaviors with a little
experiment. Try checking your work only 
once or twice instead of many times 
and observe what happens. If you avoid 
tasks, break the task down into smaller
steps and start one of the steps and see 
how you feel. If you're feeling anxious,
take note of your thoughts and try
breathing or a mindfulness exercise.
If you've been struggling with
perfectionism, talk to someone about it.
Seeking help from your university health
or counselling centre can help you gain
perspective and support.

Thanks for watching and see you next
time.

[Music]