If you are a perfectionist, you are probably familiar with the feeling of wanting to get everything just right. You may struggle with handing in papers, agonize over projects at work, and even worry about small errors from the past.如果你是一个完美主义者，你可能很熟悉那种想要把每件事都做对的感觉。 你可能会为递交论文而苦恼，为工作中的项目而苦恼，甚至为过去的一些小错误而烦恼。
High standards are one thing, but perfectionism is quite another. And as some researchers have discovered, pursuing perfection can have serious consequences to both mental and physical well being.高标准是一回事，而完美主义则是另一回事。 正如一些研究人员所发现的，追求完美会对身心健康产生严重的后果。
What Is Perfectionism?According to researchers, perfectionists hold themselves to unrealistically high standards and become self-critical if they believe they haven’t met these standards. Perfectionists are also likely to feel guilt and shame if they experience failures, which often leads them to avoid situations where they are worried they might fail. Amanda Ruggeri, writing about perfectionism for BBC Future, explains, “When perfectionists don’t succeed, they don’t just feel disappointment about how they did. They feel shame about who they are.”根据研究人员的说法，完美主义者对自己要求过高，不切实际，如果他们认为自己没有达到这些标准，就会变得自我批评。 完美主义者在经历失败时也会感到内疚和羞愧，这通常会导致他们回避那些他们担心会失败的情况。 为 BBC Future 撰写关于完美主义的文章的 Amanda Ruggeri 解释说: “当完美主义者没有成功时，他们不仅仅会对自己的表现感到失望。 他们对自己的身份感到羞愧。”
Although many people see the pursuit of excellence as a good thing, researchers have found that on the extreme end, perfectionism is actually linked to lower mental health.尽管很多人认为追求卓越是一件好事，但研究人员发现，在极端情况下，完美主义实际上与较低的心理健康水平有关。
In one study, researchers analyzed how perfectionism was related to mental health across previous studies. They looked at a total of 284 studies (with over 57,000 participants) and found that perfectionism was associated with symptoms of depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and eating disorders. They also found that people higher in perfectionism (i.e. participants who more strongly identified with perfectionist traits) also reported higher levels of overall psychological distress.在一项研究中，研究人员分析了完美主义与心理健康之间的关系。 他们总共观察了284项研究(超过57,000名参与者) ，发现完美主义与抑郁、焦虑、强迫症和饮食失调症状有关。 他们还发现，完美主义程度较高的人(即那些对完美主义特质认同程度较高的参与者)也报告了较高水平的整体心理困扰。
In an article published in 2016, researchers looked at how perfectionism and depression were related over time. They found that people higher in perfectionism tended to have increases in depression symptoms, which suggests that perfectionism may be a risk factor for developing depression. In other words, although people may think of their perfectionism as something that helps them succeed, it appears that their perfectionism may actually be harmful for their mental health.在2016年发表的一篇文章中，研究人员观察了随着时间的推移完美主义和抑郁症之间的关系。 他们发现，完美主义程度较高的人更容易出现抑郁症状，这表明完美主义可能是患抑郁症的一个风险因素。 换句话说，尽管人们可能认为他们的完美主义是帮助他们成功的东西，但是看起来他们的完美主义实际上可能对他们的心理健康有害。
