So, I've been noticing of late that a little idiosyncrasy of mine has been causing me a lot of distress - perfectionism. I have always been a perfectionist, but lately, it seems to have intensified to a sort of obsession with me. I feel like I have to do everything absolutely right on the first try, and since I know that, logically, perfection is unobtainable, this often stops me from even attempting to do something. Part of this is because of a previous job I had, in addition to environmental factors and the fact that this is basically my nature; a few years ago, I worked at a place where people were extremely critical of me (that is, when they noticed me at all) and expected me to do things perfectly without being previously told or shown anything at all regarding my tasks. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't please them. The job ended badly, with my supervisors talking about me behind my back and me finally quitting. My point is, because of all these factors, I am terrified of speaking up, for fear of saying something stupid, or doing a particular thing, because I know I can't do it right the first time, so I figure, what's the point of even trying at all? I desperately need to know if this is a symptom of something, or if there are any ways for me to lessen the intensity of my problem, because I sincerely don't want my never-ending quest for perfection to have ramifications on my internship. This need to be perfect also makes me very unhappy and angry, which is not at all fun. If anyone has any thoughts or suggestions, please let me know. And by the way, thanks to everyone on here for always helping me when I'm down. I know I don't sound like I appreciate it, but actually, it means the world to me.