Saloni
Phobias aren’t a new thing, from times immemorial humans have been scared and when someone gets a particular irrational fear of something, it is known as a phobia. An excessive and irrational fear is the mark. Phobias are also known to create dread and panic in a person. Also the effect of phobia ranges from simple annoyance to disabling fear.
A person is unable to cope up with the irrational fear that surfaces. Phobia in psychological view is so much damaging to the extent that the general working of the person is highly interrupted, there is also a break in the relationships that the patient has due to the irrational fear that starts to dominate on a day to day basis.
Causes of phobia are diverse. Any type of psychological disorder that a person suffers from is the result of a mix of two aspects of nature and nurture in psychology, for example suppose there is a child, her parents have always been fearful of their future, and hence she has the genes for phobia too, after sometime when she grows up her parents force her to top in her class among all her peers, she tries a lot and is able to do so, however now she is more fearful of accepting defeats and within a few years she may even start suffering from Atelophobia.
A few major causes include genetics, environment in which we grow. This may include any type of distressing event. And the problem may also exemplify if the person has other related health concerns such as schizophrenia or anxiety.
One of the types of phobia is Atelophobia, the irrational fear of imperfection. The etymology includes two words, Atelos which means imperfection in Greek and phobia which is another term for fear. Here in such a case a person is very fearful of making mistakes, and generally obsesses over them and is so fearful of making mistakes that the person decides not to work rather than making mistakes and correcting oneself.
Symptoms are similar to any other type of phobia, hence include the person being panicky, nauseous, and dizzy and having a rapid heartbeat. Also a failed attempt is end of the world for this person. Along with this symptoms of Atelophobia are automatic and uncontrolled, which ensures that one has to keep their fear in check on a regular basis so that the problems do not scale up.
A major portion of psychological disorders are based on how we consider ourselves to be, similar is with Atelophobia, as in our daily lives we are required to work this form of phobia is going to stick with the persons endeavors for sure, hence it becomes the responsibility for a person to autocorrect oneself on a regular basis with the reality check that actual perfection never existed and will never exist in reality.
However symptoms akin to Atelophobia include avoiding work in order to avoid fear. Indecisiveness, procrastination, avoidance, asking again and again for feedback, and checking back and back again for work.
Along with this it is also a possibility that these symptoms become so tough wired in patients that the person thinks that getting a perfect piece of work done is always required and even may end up doing the tasks for end number of times. On a general note it is also seen that in patients with Atelophobia, there is a higher risk for burnout.
Atelophobia happens to be different from Atychiphobia, which is the fear of failure. The former is the fear of making mistakes.
The causes apart from the biological and genetic factors include rigid environmental condition, negative punishment and reinforcement for work which leads to the fear of failure. Also, in such environmental condition, negative punishment and reinforcement for work which will. Also in such environmental condition, there is little or no room for mistakes.
There are problems with accepting and tolerating imperfection wherein a person just cannot accept that being flawed is a part of the nature of humans. A critical and rigid environment makes way for such a situation. A deep sense of worthlessness and repeated failure in personal and educational life may also force the person to focus on work and look for perfection at work.
The general way to diagnose for Atelophobia is to look into the DSM 5 for the symptoms, under the criteria for specific phobia, also the patient may suffer from other psychological issues such as depression, anxiety and substance abuse.
The treatment available for Atelophobia, is quite effective and the treatment includes psychotherapy, medication and lifestyle changes, all of this when combined to a larger extent the patient is able to let go of the fear of imperfection.
Psychotherapy generally includes two forms, which are psychodynamic psychotherapy and cognitive behavioral therapy out of which CBT turns out to be the most effective. Today mindfulness happen to be another important way in order to deal with phobia and it turns out to be very effective. Here it is to be noted that the person needs to ask for help in order to get over phobia.
The need for perfection is not new, quite visible on the social media and Instagram, perfection is a much needed trait in today’s world. On a general note people want perfection, and this happens to be impossible in reality.
To the patient of Atelophobia, this causes a huge amount of distress and this may even lead to avoiding work, and subsequent amount of stress which may add up to this. Here a set of impossible standards are visible which may interrupt work, the person may decide to do nothing rather than to do a work imperfectly.
Other than these external help from treatment, there are a few things if a person adopts, it is sure that he or she will surely be able to free oneself from Atelophobia, and all of this firstly includes creating a sense of confidence within oneself and self-belief, enthusiasm and inner courage also adds up as a booster in such a situation and knowing the fact that perfection can be achieved in reality can help a person cope up with any level of Atelophobia.
