What is the difference between Perfectionism and OCD?

The difference between OCD and perfectionism is the level of rationale applied to the activity or situation. OCD is Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, a serious mental illness that controls lives, whereas perfectionism is just a personality trait that makes people constantly strive for absolute perfection. The two are very very different and should not be used interchangeably. If you have OCD you will experience an extreme amount of anxiety until you do a certain activity to meet your compulsion. Another difference is that perfectionism is a positive trait and can be good in school and workplace environments, with OCD the illness consumes your life and interferes with it. If you believe you have OCD please check out our 7 cups OCD selfhelp guide and seek professional help.

OCD is a form of anxiety disorder and you can seek medical help to help control some of these symptoms/ impulses. When you have OCD or Obsessive-compulsive disorder you can't control these impulses. It can be something you NEED to do or else something bad is going to happen. Perfectionism is a personality trait. When you're a perfectionist you want everything to be perfect down to the last detail, and you may double-check things to make sure everything is as it should be, but it ISN'T something you need to do, it isn't an irrational impulse it is just something you want to do because you want everything to be perfect.

Perfectionism is when you want that everything is perfect. It means that you want that everything is in perfect shape, order, that it runs perfectly, smooth, without any errors or mistakes, that you do everything perfectly without any errors or mistakes. It is in perfectionist's Will and they don't see it as something bad, something what should be eliminated or treated. On other hand, person with OCD performs compulsive rituals in order to calm down obsessive thoughts and they see it as a disorder, as something unpleasant, unwelcome and wishes that it would be treated and even cured somehow.

Perfectionism is basically just wanting the positive things and very much insecure about things while OCD on the other hand is endless thoughts of anything whether good or bad thoughts. Its a battle also between reality and just thoughts flowing in it's just unstoppable perfectionism is aiming for things to be good only. I have rumination OCD actually right now I am experiencing it myself about just a silly thought. Its and obsession to think and over analyse while perfectionism deals for matters to be just so good for others eyes, OCD is not just what we perceive but what we feel

OCD can be characterised as an extreme form of perfectionism, where anything can lead to anxiety, fear, and distress. Perfectionism is a personality trait where one strives for flawlessness; it becomes OCD when those strives cause literal disorder in one's life. OCD changes your entire life, it makes you feel as though if you do not keep something in order or do not touch something a certain amount of times something bad will happen to you. Perfectionism is when you like things to be in order, but it does not take over your entire life or stop you from ding things.

OCD involves intrusive thoughts that you find distressing as well as a compulsion in an attempt to stop, reduce or neutralise these thoughts. OCD can cause severe distress whereas perfectionism can still cause some anxiety, but is absolutely no where near as severe as OCD and doesn't involve intrusive thoughts. Someone who is a perfectionist doesn't feel like something truly terrible will happen if they don't make sure everything is perfect. OCD is often also more than just perfectionism and can have many different themes such as relationship OCD, religious OCD, magical thinking OCD etc. To conclude, if there are no intrusive thoughts that are incredibly distressing combined with an action that is a compulsion to try and reduce or get rid of the thoughts, then it probably isn't OCD.

As someone who has OCD, I want to let you know there is a pretty big difference. Someone who is a perfectionist likes things to be a certain way. However, someone who has OCD HAS to have them that way, because they have troubling thoughts. OCD stands for obsessive compulsive disorder. For example someone might have the thought (this is the obsession part) that they might forget to lock the door and someone will come in and murder their parents. This thought will keep coming back into their head even at times when they dont want to think about it. As a result, they may start repeatedly checking to see if the door is locked every day. This is the compulsion. So i guess the main difference is that OCD is like perfectionism with a voice in your head saying something terrible will happen if it's not perfect.

I have ocd myself. I also consider myself a perfectionist. Someone with ocd will feel not only driven to do something, but also compulsed which means they feel that they have to complete a certain action in order to alleviate a mental obsession. Unfortunately, this works in a cycle. The more times you give into the compulsions the stronger they will get and reoccur. also not all ocd compulsions and obsessions have to do with cleaning. For me, I had a big religious obsession for example, feeling like I was going to go to hell. I would have to perform mental compulsions like praying or rumination in order to attempt to alleviate these obsessions but they continued for years and years. Ocd can be treated with CBT (I highly recommend it if you find yourself struggling).

Perfectionism is when you want to do whatever it takes to do things perfectly for yourself while OCD is when you feel uncomfortable when things arent the way that you deem it should be and therefore you feel the urge to fix it sometimes this urge can be uncontrollable. According to Google perfectionism is a personality trait where one strives for flawlessness. This can become OCD when those strives cause literal disorder in one's life. The difference is the extremity of the perfectionism or the extent to which being perfect affects your daily life. Though the differences are subtle, it is important to understand that these two are different and that claiming you have OCD when you don’t can be extremely insensitive to someone struggling with the disorder.

Perfectionism is when you try and make everything look as you want it, see that is not coming out the right way but manage it without any type of anxiety or need to actually do it. OCD it is a disease that is more of a need to change everything and having compulsions that you have to fulfill with actions that make those compulsions go away like for example: feeling that your hands are not clean and having to wash them every time you get this need, but in a way that it affects your daily living and normal functionality.