We all know that today we live in a competitive world in which there is a high level of competition and demand for our actions. At work we are asked to be productive, efficient, proactive, adaptable, able to work as a team, good colleagues and organized. And this is not only at work, but also in areas such as couples, where we are highly demanding and competitive.

This frenetic pace makes some people think that they not only have to be good but that they should always strive for excellence, and even perfection in everything they are or do. And even, in some cases may arise even phobic symptoms to not achieve perfection. This is the case of those who suffer from atelophobia , a peculiar phobia of which we will talk about in this article.

What is atelophobia?

Atelophobia is a rare phobia, which we might consider specific despite the fact that its phobic object is rather subjective and can vary greatly from person to person. As a phobia, we are not talking about a simple discomfort, but about the existence of an irrational and disproportionate fear and panic to the presence of an object, being or concrete situation (to the point of being able to trigger panic attacks), generating this fear the avoidance of the phobic stimulus or of situations in which it may appear.

In the specific case of atelophobia the phobic stimulus is imperfection , or rather not being able to reach perfection with their actions, ideas or beliefs. In some cases this can also extend to the behaviour of others and not only to one’s own.

It is easy to think of atelophobia as perfectionism, but it must be taken into account that it is not limited to it: there is a real anxiety and unusual somatic and behavioural reactions that are disproportionate to the possible risk that it could pose.

This means that the person with atelophobia will be terrified of doing anything less than perfect, avoiding situations where they can do it or spending a great deal of time trying to make things perfect. The symptomatology does not end there, but the presence of some kind of imperfection can generate the appearance of tachycardia, hyperventilation, tremors , nausea and vomiting or cold sweats, among others, being a reflection of the psychic discomfort or anxiety caused by the presence of the feared stimulus.

Consequences

The symptoms described above may involve a high level of interference, usually much higher than that of other phobias. First of all, atelophobia implies a fear of imperfection that can occur at any time, place and situation, making the tension more permanent . And furthermore, it has a direct implication for self-esteem and personal self-concept.

Thus, it is common that people who have this type of phobia are never satisfied with themselves and have a very low self-concept and self-esteem. They will also have a high level of demand regarding their own behavior, never being anything they do good enough and always comparing their performance with those who do everything better. This discomfort generally causes them to present depressive symptoms and even a certain irritability and hostility .

And not only with themselves: they also demand a lot from others. This can cause these people to have severe difficulties in their social, work and partner relationships, as they feel that their relationships and performance with all of them, and theirs with him/her, should be perfect. In addition to this, there is also continuous self-criticism, which can generate a certain refusal to be present on a permanent basis.

At work, in addition to social difficulties, they can also lose a great deal of time trying to improve or perfect results that were already good, losing efficiency and productivity.

In some cases this problem can also generate problems with one’s own body, although this is not so common as the fear itself is usually that our behaviour and its results are not perfect, being quite specific in the sense that it is “what we do, think or believe” that is usually judged and not so much the physical one.

However, there are cases in which it has also been linked to the presence of eating disorders : problems can appear when atelophobia is mixed with the practice of exercise or dieting to the point of losing quality of life and damaging one’s health.

In addition to all this, we must remember that the subject will tend to avoid situations in which it is easy for his acts to be less than perfect, which can lead to isolation and cessation of a large number of activities both at work and in leisure. Attempts to try new things or train in the consolidation of a skill can also be eliminated by avoiding exposure to the risk of not being good.

Causes

The origin of atelophobia, as with most mental disorders, is not entirely clear. The fact is that there are multiple factors that interact when a mental health problem arises .

First, there may be a certain biological predisposition, such as a low threshold of physiological activation or the inheritance of somewhat perfectionist personality traits. This predisposition or vulnerability is only such, but the experience of certain events or the learning of certain ways of acting can converge with it to favour the appearance of atelophobia.

At a less generic level, it has been observed that those suffering from atelophobia have often had a restrictive upbringing or have been highly criticized throughout their childhood, and their performance has never been sufficient to please their environment. An excessively demanding and rigid education may lead to the thought that they will never be good enough.

It can also appear in cases where they have experienced that not being able to do something well enough has had severe consequences in their lives, something that may have led them to generalize in such a way that there is a fear that not being perfect will have consequences.

Link to other disorders

Atelophobia is a difficult disorder to diagnose, which can be confused with the aforementioned perfectionism that can be part of a typical behavior, or that could also be easily confused with various disorders.

It is possible to observe a certain link with a very specific group of disorders: obsessive disorders . The best known of these is Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder or OCD, specifically resembling more those cases whose obsessions are linked to aspects such as cleanliness, order, verification or morality. In both cases there is concern for one’s own actions and there is a high level of self-inflicted demand. The concern and anxiety they feel in both cases can lead them to compensatory acts, and they spend a great deal of time on such concerns. However, in atelophobia there are no obsessions or compulsions as such.

Possibly the one with which atelophobia is most similar is with a disorder similar to the previous one: Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder (although the name is similar to OCD, here there are neither obsessions nor compulsions, it is more stable and the characteristics of the disorder are integrated into the personality), in which the aforementioned perfectionism is present in a persistent way and which can generate a high level of misadaptation and suffering both for oneself and others as the individual requires that everything be ordered and well done.

It is common to have problems of social adjustment and even some anxiety . The truth is that atelophobia could appear in a person with this type of personality and in fact this type of person is much more likely, but should not be identified. Firstly, because atelophobia is a more specific disorder that does not necessarily form part of the person’s identity, and the fear of failure does not necessarily generate physiological symptoms in obsessive-compulsive personality disorder.

Another aspect to take into account is the possibility that atelophobia is linked to physical appearance, which can pose a serious risk of developing some kind of eating disorder or body dysmorphic disorder.

Treatment of Imperfection Phobia

The treatment of atelophobia shares with that of most phobias the fact that it is based on exposure to the feared stimuli. Thus, it is intended that the subject is capable, either by exposure or systematic desensitization, of not manifesting an anxious response to the imperfection. Carrying out a hierarchy of especially phobic situations and working progressively so that the subject remains in the situation or generates a response that is incompatible with the anxious response is one of the most common therapies, and should be carried out through a negotiation between the professional and the patient.

Also in this case it is essential to work through cognitive restructuring, through which we can try to modify the beliefs regarding one’s own personal effectiveness and the need to make everything perfect. To do this, it may be useful to work previously on the origin of this fear, which meant then and means now, what meaning the patient gives to it, how it affects him/her and when it appears.

It will also be necessary to work on the level of self-expectation and the existence of cognitive distortions. Therapies that work on self-gratification and self-esteem will also be of great help in improving the patient’s emotional situation. If the anxiety is unbearable for the patient, it is possible to use some anti-anxiety drugs in such a way that the symptoms are reduced and psychological work can be started.