Self-Management of Depression

Perfectionism and Depression If your thoughts are, “I have to do it right,” “I have to do it all,” “I cannot fail,” “I have to keep up with others,” “Is this good enough?” or “I need to be in control,” then you are letting perfectionism dictate your life. In being a perfectionist, you hold yourself to high ideals or expectations that originate from your irrational thoughts. These irrational thought patterns include all-or-none thinking and “should” and “must” statements. If you don’t meet your perfectionist standards, you start to feel worthless, which then fuels more depressive thinking. Perfectionists often seek pleasure by focusing on the results of their activities rather than enjoying the process. This then prevents them from savoring simple pleasures of everyday life. In fact, perfectionism increases one’s vulnerability for depression, possibly because of lack of self-compassion (Ferrari et al., 2018). In other words, perfectionist individuals are more likely to judge them