Moving Beyond the Anxiety and Perfectionism Feedback Loop

Forget everything you thought you knew about anxiety and perfectionism. Here’s an inside look at what actually works. We all feel the need to be accepted, to fit in, feel loved, and that we matter to someone or something.  As someone who struggles with anxiety myself, I understand how hard it is to combat the anxiety feedback loop. As a psychologist who has worked with this material for nearly a decade, I supposedly know all the tricks in the book. I have a tool kit 10 pages deep ready to go whenever I experience a bout of anxiety. Even still, I struggle to practice what I preach.  Moving beyond this feedback loop induced by perfectionism, fueled by people pleasing tendencies, and manifested with anxiety is challenging. Over time, I eventually learned to manage this perfectionism induced anxiety by cognitively restricting my thoughts, practicing exposure therapy and learning how to recognize my panic triggers. It is somewhat counterintuitive, but I have found that rather than pushing away intrusive thoughts, our anxiety melts away when we hold space for these overwhelming thoughts. It is the ultimate paradox of anxiety, and the theory that is at the roots of exposure therapy (often used for social anxiety, phobias and PTSD). In my practice, I hear clients doting on their status as a “perfectionist.” Pulling all-nighters as if it were a badge of honor. Settling for nothing less than outstanding. Entering into a competition solely to win. While on the outside, s...
Source: Psych Central - Category: Psychiatry Authors: Tags: Anxiety Perfectionism Psychology Intrusive Thoughts Self Worth Self-Esteem Source Type: news