Perfectionism Has Become a Pandemic, and What’s Driving It

New data on perfectionism’s steady rise and broader associations prompt a closer look at the expectations of self and society.

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Kara Blankenship grew up in a culture where children were to be seen and not heard, to obey without questioning authority, and to strive to meet the expectations of others. The firstborn in her family, she was rewarded for her grades and always equated her personal value with whether she was pleasing those around her.

On the outside, she was a picture-perfect music major in college. On the inside, she was worn down by chasing every professor’s advice, holding high standards that didn’t allow for failure, and questioning whether she even wanted the degree she was pursuing.

Blankenship’s drive for perfection was cracking her self-worth and damaging her relationships.“It put me in that place of thinking, ‘Well, you’re better than them,’” she told The Epoch Times. “It made me not give grace to others, but I also wasn’t giving grace to myself.”

The rise in perfectionism since 2000 has been particularly sharp—something researchers describe as a perfectionism pandemic.

Perfectionism could previously be described as mostly self-imposed; today, it’s both self-imposed and socially prescribed, and the rate of mental health conditions has remained consistently linked to the rate of perfectionism.

Are We in a Perfectionism Pandemic?

Perfectionism is not a flippant personality trait of someone who simply excels at most things, Rebecca Resnik, a licensed clinical psychologist and host of the “Cultivating Excellence Podcast,” told The Epoch Times. It can cause real health problems—perfectionism is itself a public health risk, she said.

Perfectionism might appear to be ruminating thoughts or low self-esteem, but it can also lead to needlessly dropping out of college, binge drinking, and dangerous effects on physical health, she said.

“This is really not just an isolated thing where you have a few college students here and there who can’t take the pressure.”

Self-imposed perfectionism is the act of striving yet never feeling good enough, chronically doubting yourself, and viewing others’ expectations as unfair, excessive, and uncontrollable. Perfectionist concerns—the socially influenced forms—are growing even faster, and involve indecisiveness, fear of failure, and fear of being negatively judged by others.

Thomas Curran, lead author of a recent study published in Psychological Bulletin, found that socially influenced perfectionism has steadily increased over the past 35 years.

In 2020, psychologists Gordon Flett and Paul Hewitt wrote a paper, calling the widespread and growing prevalence of perfectionism a “the perfectionism pandemic.”

The author of the recent study concurs.

“These findings provide additional context for recent debates about youth mental health,” he said in a news release. “Phones and social media have received a lot of the blame, but the rise in perfectionism predates social media. This research study suggests something deeper is at work.”

The study suggested that combining exceptionally high personal standards with intense worries about mistakes and others’ judgments is associated with especially poor mental health outcomes.

There’s evidence of even more serious health issues associated with perfectionism. Both self-imposed and socially influenced forms were found to be associated with suicidal ideation, according to a meta-analysis published in the Journal of Personality. Perfectionism is also linked to eating disorders and non-suicidal self-harm.

Addressing the youth mental health crisis will require examining the cultural and economic conditions that fuel these pressures, Curran said.

Economic Influence

Perfectionism rates have followed certain economic conditions across three countries: America, Canada, and Great Britain, according to findings in Curran’s study, which analyzed 25 years of data up to 2024.

A sluggish economy, measured by gross domestic product, was associated with striving—working hard to achieve high standards. Striving is a more nuanced form of perfectionism that may not be unhealthy when it motivates the pursuit of excellence; however, when fostered by emotional motivation that “I must do well to be okay,” striving becomes damaging.

One way to think about it is that striving involves setting the bar too high for yourself, whereas perfectionism concerns the emotions and thought patterns about your fate if you don’t clear the bar. Perfectionistic concerns co-mingle with fear of mistakes, shame after setbacks, and a sense of worth that relies on achievement—a combination that can be far more debilitating, according to the study, and that rose alongside increases in economic inequality—the deeper gap between rich and poor.

“When inequality grows, what you see is that fear and worry about making mistakes and other people’s opinions start to become a more central feature of young people’s psychology,” Curran said.

Parental Influence

There may also be trickle-down anxiety from concerned parents that drives perfectionism, Resnik said. Parents who don’t want their children to fail or who are concerned about economic pressures might suggest certain schools or careers.

“Uncertainty is a huge factor in what causes stress and anxiety for people,” she said. “The parents’ anxiety turns into pressure, whether it’s intentional or not, on the child to attain a certain level of achievement, which parents believe is protective.”

What needs more understanding, according to Curran’s findings, is that college students want to excel, achieve, and appear flawless, even when they know the pressure comes from society rather than themselves.

Parents can have a positive influence by raising children to value themselves authentically, Resnik said, and not overemphasizing perfect grade point averages, first chair in band, or being on the starting team for sports. Often, parents mindlessly fall into attaching value to accomplishments simply because other parents do.

“Parents can deliberately and very consciously break free of the toxic cultural influences. That is going to catch fire,” she said. “As we get sort of critical mass where enough parents say, ‘Enough, I’m not going to do this to my child,’ that’s when we get societal change.”

Redefining What Matters

Overcoming perfectionism was a gradual process for Blankenship.

Eventually, she pivoted to the career she truly desired. Now a counselor and clinical director of a mental health and wellness practice called Optimize Wellness, Blankenship broke free from her perfectionist mindset during her education.

The biggest lesson she’s learned and passes along to her clients: Perfectionism is a fixed mindset, not a growth mindset.

Letting go of the outcome and opinions of others when you create and share new projects can be freeing, she said.

“You don’t have to have everything right to begin. You just need to start,” she said. “You can’t grow unless you fail. Unless you make a mistake, you can’t really learn. That was a big shift point for me.”