title: [Perfectionism: conceptual and clinical aspects].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Study of the concept of perfectionism and its phenomenology, etiology, and treatment.
  
  
  METHODS
  Review of the literature, phenomenological, and-clinical analyses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The International Classification of Diseases introduced the notion of perfectionism into psychiatric discourse in 1977. In DSM-III, DSM-III-R, and DSM-IV, perfectionism is a diagnostic criterion of obsessive-compulsive disorder, but has never been defined in the psychiatric literature. We differentiate normal perfectionism and pathological perfectionism, which is of some psychiatric interest: normal perfectionism is manifested according to the aptness of the target and its sociocultural value, and is therefore selective and flexible, whereas pathological perfectionism is the compulsive pursuit of a performance level not required by the circumstances and idiosyncratic in nature. Its symptomatology may resemble that of obsessive-compulsive disorder, but is actually quite different: whereas obsessive-compulsive symptoms are absurd and the product of ego-dystonic compulsion, pathological perfectionism is experienced as a personal obligation, and retain an identifiable cultural objective.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The phenomenology of the normal and abnormal manifestations of perfectionism is well defined. While pathological perfectionism and obsessive-compulsive disorder are similar and may even share a common etiology, they should be considered 2 distinct clinical entities. The therapeutic approaches to pathological perfectionism remain empirical.
authors.affiliation: Département de psychiatrie, Université de Montréal, Québec.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Todorov
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bazinet
mesh_terms: D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; D003674:Defense Mechanisms; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D009042:Motivation; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D010553:Personality Development; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012945:Social Values
vernacular_title: Le perfectionnisme: aspects conceptuels et cliniques.