Perfectionism versus Obsessive Compulsive Disorder | Hacker News Reader

Perfectionism versus Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

psychologytoday.com

79 pointsDanBC26 comments

I got to admit an OCD/perfectionism trait (out of many I will not all list) I used to have when I was younger... I would install say an Linux distribution on my computer and somewhere a few hours or days afterwards I would make a slight mistake in configuring it and I felt a level of discomfort that I must reinstall the whole thing from scratch. One summer I spend a good part of time doing this kind of stuff and getting no productive stuff done. Used to think it was normal behavior until I learned about OCD in a book by chance. I called my hospital and spoke to a psychologist and the CBT therapy worked great for me. Thankfully I've not had OCD compulsions since then. I just look back at my youth and how much time I wasted acting that way...

Reminds me of a friend mine. When we were teens we’d be reformatting our machines every other month it seemed like. The one time he created the partition and ended up with something like 49.9GB instead of an even 50GB. He proceeded to redo the entire install and partitioning while I stood by dumbfounded that he’d waste all that time.

I've done this myself! :/ It feels like the relief of getting it "right" outweighs the time wasted, at least at the time. But it's kind of crazy when you think about it!

I've done this many times myself. Feeling as though I suffer from perfectionism and my productivity really suffers for it. Do you have any links to online resources or CBT courses that might help? Thanks!

One of the things about all these mainstream psychology arguments is that the phenomena are presented either a pathological condition with associated brain chemistry or a simple psychological difference of little consequence. There is no room anywhere in these discussions for person's condition to shade between cognitive difference that can be quite useful in some situations and related behavior that might be seen as a serious dysfunctional in other circumstances (and people).

I thought that the DSM's criterion for pathology vs. eccentricity was whether it negatively effects the person and/or those around them. Treatment is only indicated insofar as the condition is actually causing a problem.

Is striving for an elegant solution making optimal use of resources same as striving for perfection? Question is half rhetorical, asking because I would like to hear other opinions.

I don't think so.

Perfectionism is about meeting an premeditated ideal. Striving for an elegant solution involves approaching a problem with an open mind, and making compromises.

Elegance minimizes and co-opts cruft. Perfectionism's anxiety refuses to admit that cruft is an unavoidable and often necessary part of life, and is usually too expensive to entirely eliminate.

TL;DR: Perfectionism is OCPD (where 'P' stands for 'personality').

I think that most people who call themselves perfectionists are not really, they just like the way it sounds. But if they really are (whether because of OCPD or because they are trying), they tend to wreak havoc on things they want to make perfect - including their own lives...

Sometimes havoc is optimal.

Individuals with OCD who prepared a meal may not be able to eat their food because of thoughts that the stove might be on.

I have a coworker who told me that he used to take a photo of his stove before going out of the house so when he was at work, he could simply take out his smartphone and confirm that the stove was off. Engineers sure get inventive with their coping mechanisms :)

Has anyone met an actual perfectionist (i.e. someone who produces near perfect work)? All the "perfectionists" I have met are either delusional (i.e. their output is far from perfect), or who are just slow and who use it as an excuse for their lack of productivity.

No, but I've met people who strive for perfection and know when to let go.

That person is not a perfectionist :)

I guess, in their eyes, it doesn't have to be universally near-perfect. But near-perfect in a context that... given their limits of knowledge, skill, and the time span, this is the best they could have done.

Perfectionists don't produce perfect work. As described in article, they obess with details, lists, loose sight of big picture and then can't finish work (half of task being perfected other still untouched ) or finish it after very long time.

I met some people who did very little mistakes. In anything non trivial there tend to be differences of opinion about what is perfect solution.

I understand what the clinical definition of a perfectionist is - I was more interested to know if anyone had met an actual perfectionist.

The people I have met who have produced the best solutions are the least like the clinical definition of a perfectionist - they are efficient, see the big picture, and pump out the best (or near best) answer first time.

There was a huge spike in pseudo-perfectionists after Steve Jobs died, people seemed to think that if they are picky enough they will be perceived as geniuses.

Source?

What's it with all the idiots replying "Source?" to every I-just-pulled-this-out-of-my-ass-but-I-like-sounding-authoritative comment on the internet?

Please stop. Thanks.

When someone makes a statement that sounds potentially plausible-and-interesting but could also be pulled-out-of-ass then asking for some evidence isn't unreasonable.

What's with all the clowns replying "please stop" to unsubstantive comments. Everyone thinks they're a "dan-g" nowadays.

Surely you mean dang? He's not that blunt, thank goodness. If you're looking for a faux-moderator, there's a guy around going by gzrm or something like that.

I didn't want to ambiguate with dang as in "damn!" which is sometimes exclaimed on HN.

dang is polite, he does say "please stop" sometimes which is fair enough.

You can use me as a source if you want to include it in an academic paper.

Then you could cite the paper. But my reference checker robot will throw a stack overflow exception.

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