Perfectionism detrimental to health. Ways to reduce its impact.

Introduction

Editor’s note: The podcast Chasing Life With Dr. Sanjay Gupta explores the medical science behind some of life’s mysteries big and small. You can listen to episodes here.

The Pressure of New Year’s Resolutions

(CNN) — The start of the year can be exhausting: After running yourself ragged over the holidays — hosting the perfect party, finding the right gifts or staging the ideal holiday mise-en-scène — popular culture prods you to do even more. Enter the New Year’s resolution, those self-imposed marching orders to improve yourself and, often, your health.

But sometimes the solution to better health — whether mental, emotional or physical — may be doing less and learning to let go, even just a bit.

The Impact of Perfectionism

Dr. Ellen Hendriksen, a clinical psychologist at Boston University’s Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders, author and a self-described perfectionist, finds doing less doesn’t come naturally. And she is hardly alone.

“I would say most of my clients come in with perfectionism at the center of the overlapping Venn diagram of their challenges,” Hendriksen told CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta on his Chasing Life podcast recently.

The Downsides of Perfectionism

Perfectionism “can look like striving for excellence for the sake of excellence, for setting high standards, working hard, caring deeply,” Hendriksen said, noting those are positive attributes. It is a huge asset for many professions — say, for a pilot or brain surgeon — but it can tip over into unhealthy behavior.

Hendriksen should know. She said she wrote her most recent book, “How to Be Enough: Self-Acceptance for Self-Critics And Perfectionists,” for herself.

Tips to Combat Perfectionism

Perfectionism is at the heart of many medical and mental health challenges, Hendriksen said. “And it also is a really central component of eating disorders, of a lot of kinds of depression, of OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder).”

“For me, it manifested physically,” she said. “I developed a GI (gastrointestinal) illness. I went through like five rounds of physical therapy. I had an overuse injury from typing too much. I woke up one morning, and I couldn’t turn my head to the right because my muscles were too tight.”

Practical Tips for Letting Go of Perfectionism

Hendriksen said you don’t have to lower your standards or be less driven to loosen the vice grip of perfectionism on your psyche. Here are her five tips to ease up on yourself.

You’re not your achievements

There is value to you beyond your accomplishments.

“We all identify with our performance,” Hendriksen said in an email. “Of course we’re proud of good grades, an excellent job review, hitting our workout goals, or even turning out a killer new chocolate chip cookie recipe.”

Tone down your inner critic

Take your critical brain less seriously, Hendriksen said.

“Those of us who aim high, work hard, and care deeply take things seriously. We take our commitments seriously, our responsibilities seriously. But that means we also take our own thoughts very seriously,” she said. “When we think ‘I’m not good enough,’ or ‘I’m falling short,’ we assume those thoughts are true. We treat them as fact. But actually, they’re just thoughts.”

Make self-compassion easier

Self-compassion is often described as “talking to yourself like a good friend,” Hendriksen said. “But you don’t have to feed yourself a steady stream of self-compassionate hype.”

She said self-compassion can be one word or a phrase: “‘Easy,’ ‘Gentle,’ ‘You’re OK,’” she said. “Even easier? Self-compassion can be actions: three deep breaths, asking for help, taking a break, taking time to savor your coffee in the morning or read a novel before bed.”

Let your inner sloth out

Dare to be unproductive, Hendriksen said.

“Self-improvement feels good. But resist the urge to be endlessly productive with your leisure time,” she said. “You don’t have to build a skill, learn something new, or do something ‘good for you’ all the time.”