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If you've ever done a job interview, which I'm guessing is most of us, you'll know how at some point, usually towards the end, some variation of the question, what is your greatest weakness'll get asked. And you'll also know how the

acceptable answer is usually some variation of... I have extremely high standards. I give everything

150%. I'm a perfectionist. Perfectionist. Yeah. Our culture really seems to value perfectionism.

Because in one sense, it does create external value.

You nail that task, you achieve some goal, your boss is happy, you get praise.

But the thing we don't account for enough is the cost of perfectionism.

And that cost is generally more individual and internal. I think perfectionism

is kind of a fool's dream in a way. Like the goalpost keeps getting moved, so you never quite can

sigh and be satisfied and proud of yourself. I don't mean to say it's like foolish, like people who aim

for that are fools. I really don't mean to say that, but like it, you know, it doesn't really exist.

I was always thoughts of like, I'm not good enough. I'm lazy. I'm dumb. I'm not working enough.

The work that I turn in isn't good enough.

You don't have to guess how damaging that kind of thinking can be to a person's general mental health.

But here's a link you might not be aware of.

Perfectionism is strongly associated with one mental health condition in particular.

That's eating disorders, especially anorexia.

There's a real rigidity to anorexia, and that I think maps on quite well to the rigidity

that can be associated with perfectionism.

So that is the angle of perfectionism we're going to focus on today, because anorexia

has the highest mortality rate of all psychiatric illness.

Perfectionism can make it all the more deadly.

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