Hi everyone.

I'm sure if you've been recovering from a lot of emotional/ cognitive issues, perfectionism and perfectionistic thinking is one the main culprits in our suffering and how we view things in life in general.

So, I think its one of the persistent issues I have, and the more I learn about it the more I become aware and mindful about how it affects my emotional state. For example, and I'm sure most of you know experienced this, when you are progressing toward recovery and work on yourself very hard, you encounter days when you just relapse completely into the depressive mood, low-self esteem, shameful character. And that point you discount and discredit all the progress you have made, and you inner critic almost convince you that what you are trying to change is futile. Perfectionism is a truly damn fierce enemy.

Aside from affecting your overall emotional/cognitive sate, I saw perfectionism also affecting my studies in general. Now that I'm doing my PhD degree, I had and still a tendency to delve deeper into the topic and the quest for understanding every detail is truly overwhelming me and hindering my capability on focusing on the overall picture (what need to be done). For example, when I read a journal paper on something, I get obsessed about every detail in it, in an attempt to understand everything in it. its causes me to procrastinate, and I can attest up to this point of my life, I can't seem to overcome this issue. The issue of detail obsessing, and rationalization.

Anyone did experience this before, and what did you do to alleviate this perfectionistic tenancies?

Thanks a lot