Not every perfectionist is suffering from ADHD. Even people having ADHD may seem reckless many times and they often don’t pay attention to their tasks. However deep down, many people with ADHD show perfectionism in their behaviour.
What is Perfectionism?
Perfectionism isn’t about being good at a particular job but people with this trait thrive to do everything perfectly. Also, they take a lot of time while doing everyday tasks. Additionally, they can’t accept the fact that they can be mediocre at one thing or another.
For example, people with ADHD want to ace in their career, education, and at home simultaneously. This behavior triggers their anxiety constantly. Even peers around them find their need to be perfect irritating. Furthermore, they are prone to get involved in serious relationships and professional issues. However, according to some researches, it is evident that perfectionism is more common in females diagnosed with ADHD.
Anxiety with ADHD and Perfectionism
People with ADHD alongside perfectionism often suffer from anxiety daily. However, many issues can trigger their anxiety such as managing a heavy workload, having a fight with a partner, or attending a social event. People with ADHD tend to dissociate from their emotions which also causes them anxiety. In addition, having a financial crisis or irregular diet provokes an anxious state in ADHD.
Moreover, chronic anxiety develops a fear of failure in people diagnosed with ADHD. So, they start feeling that they are not worthy of having good things in life. That’s why in ADHD, people are most likely to overwork themselves but they are not satisfied with their quality of work.
Obsession with ADHD and Perfectionism
Another factor that connects ADHD and perfectionism is having obsessive behavior. Many people who are diagnosed with ADHD do feel distracted while working on a specific project. But they do hyper focus where they put extra effort while running a simple errand. That’s why people with ADHD work on a single task for days, even for months without having boredom.
Moreover, this sort of intensity also tells us about the obsessive thinking of perfectionists. In the same way, people with perfectionism will focus on a single task until they have done it perfectly or else, they won’t be moving to the next task. Also, perfectionists put extra effort on an errand to excel in their area. Thereby, both people with perfectionism and ADHD can overwork a single task without putting attention to the other aspects of their lives.
Apathy with ADHD and Perfectionism
People with both conditions, either ADHD or perfectionism find it difficult to understand others’ emotions. Moreover, perfectionists always see the world from their point of view. So, their keen interest is to complete a project or task. That’s why they don’t pay attention to others’ feelings nor do they think whether their intentions are hurting their peers or not.
Whereas in ADHD, people cannot often identify others’ emotions. Consequently, these people are apathetic towards others feeling and are self-centered. Moreover, it is hard for them to maintain effective communication. For instance, in ADHD, individuals cannot focus while listening to someone or holding proper eye contact.
Thereby, both individuals having ADHD and perfectionism don’t show empathy towards others which can cause issues in their personal or impersonal relationship.
How to manage ADHD and Perfectionism?
We have listed approaches down below that may help people to manage their ADHD alongside perfectionism:
- Make a shift in your perspective
People with ADHD and perfectionism need to do work in how they perceive their surroundings. Perfectionists have high expectations while they are running after their goals. Therefore, they must find someone whom they trust so that person can review their approach towards their lives and can bring maturity within their goals. Furthermore, counselors can also tell those about the pros and cons of certain problems so they can make wiser decisions in their lives.
- List down small reminders
People who are diagnosed with ADHD alongside perfectionism should list some reminders such as quotes, and phrases that may help them to change their perception. And they must put those reminders within their reaches such as on phone wallpaper or their desk. So, they can shift their thoughts on perfectionism.
- Make little mistakes
People with ADHD and perfectionism need to make little mistakes in their lives so they don’t have to be perfect all the time. For instance, these people can wear mismatched socks, take extra hours of break, watch a show late at night to challenge their minds to form new patterns. Furthermore, these mistakes will help people with perfectionism and ADHD to understand their mentality better.