Don’t work too hard! Perfectionists have an increased risk of premature death, according to research reported in LiveScience.com (via Msnbc.com).
While trying to be perfect can also have health benefits, the mental stress for perfectionists when things don’t go as planned and their unwillingness to ask others for help can add up to problems.
“Perfectionism is a virtue to be extolled definitely,” Trinity Western University psychology professor Prem Fry told LiveScience.com. “But beyond a certain threshold, it backfires and becomes an impediment.”
“You should want to be perfect across a variety of aspects of your life,” York University psychology professor Gordon Flett gold LiveScience.com. “It’s natural to be perfectionistic in the thing that matters most, like your job. (But) you don’t want that same person to be going home and using those same standards to evaluate family members, which causes stress.”
Full story: Slackers, take heart! Perfectionists more likely to die earlier: study