“The Destructiveness of Perfectionism Implications for the Treatment of Depression” The article “The Destructiveness of Perfectionism: Implications for the Treatment of Depression,” used research findings along with anecdotal evidence to support their idea of a connection between individuals’ problems with perfectionism and the development of depression. Certain investigations and research provide evidence that perfectionism has a role in adaptive and maladaptive functioning including disorders such as depression and suicide. Some main points the article uses to support these assertions include the stories of three prominent respected men, all with perfectionism crises that committed suicide. The article points out the relationship between these facts, and how this problem may have developed into depression, leading to the eventual suicides. Through cross-examinations of several studies to define categories of perfectionism, two specific ones were generated. These two categories, self-oriented perfectionism and socially prescribed perfectionism, further relate to two types of depression. These types, introjective (self-critical) depression and anaclitic (dependent) depression, correspond respectively to the above mentioned categories. Some antecedents of self-critical, or introjective, depression were mentioned and analyzed in this article. Some identified precursors were disrupted parent-child relations, and childhood experiences of nonapproving or inconsistently approving parents with love that is conditional upon success. The article also addresses the implications of these findings on courses of treatment for depression. It is acknowledged that patients suffering from this perfectionism-derived depression must relinquish certain aspects of their current identification and adopt new identities they develop for themselves. The article does all of these things effectively, and one main strengt...
