What Is Anancastic Personality Disorder?

Julio is a man who has been really successful in working life. He says that from a young age he has always wanted to do things well, and that he used to spend hours after hours finishing his homework as well as his school assignments to make sure they “went through”. He describes himself as systematic, neat, and prone to perfectionism.

In his own words: things are done either perfectly or not at all. If something has not been done properly, it will be done completely over and over again. He likes the details, and he thinks things should be in balance. Everything in life has its place, and its order and routines are just and only good. He thinks his own, pedantic ways of working have helped him get to his current position – even though he still doesn’t think he’s achieved enough.

What’s wrong with Julio?

At first glance, it would seem that Julio – a successful, respected and systematic man – has no problems at all. The truth, however, is that Julio’s personality causes inconvenience in all other areas of life. Julio suffers from a condition called ananchastic, or obsessive-compulsive personality disorder.

The personality of a person belonging to this type of person is often very much determined by his or her advanced perfectionism as well as the desire to control every situation. Perfectionism does not mean wanting to make an effort to do things as well as possible. This is still perfectly normal and even desirable. Rather, perfectionism is all about the fact that the end result must be perfect.

The problem, however, is that there is no perfect end result. Thus, a perfectionist can spend hours or even days completing a task that someone else would complete in a much shorter amount of time. He may also give up everything in the middle or delay doing something because he is afraid he will not be able to complete the task perfectly. 

The pursuit of perfection in people with anancastic personality disorder most often results in them never being satisfied with their own results. They always think they can do even better and as a result they suffer from anxiety and are unable to enjoy their achievements.

This kind of thinking is called bipolar. In other words, things are either good or bad. There is no gray area, just black and white – either you are complete or completely failed. And since perfection does not even exist, this leads, without help, to such people seeing themselves as failed no matter how much they have achieved.

The people described are most often fully dedicated to their work. They never take a vacation, even if their boss tries to force them to. Work is at the top of their priority list and it follows them home virtually every day, preventing them from building a different life. It goes without saying that such behavior makes it almost impossible for them to establish lasting friendships and love relationships because they do not advance their primary interests. They often avoid various leisure expenses and when forced to participate in them in the face of compulsion, they feel uncomfortable and think they are just wasting their time.

They also often find relationships with their colleagues challenging, as they are unable to delegate work tasks or accept outside help under any circumstances. This in turn is because they don’t think others are capable enough to help.

On the basis of these traits, one could sum up that the way of thinking of such people is dominated by the need to do things perfectly and a strong fear of making mistakes and failing.

What can Julio do?

It is true that a mind dominated by personality disorder is extremely difficult to begin to shape, but a combination of psychotherapy and meditation can still be helpful in such cases.

First, it would be essential for such a person to be able to work out their own misconceptions about perfectionism as well as control. It is essential for change to learn that perfection is an unrealistic concept. Perfection does not even exist, and the pursuit of something non-existent only leads to anxiety and frustration. This in turn causes suffering and even aggression, and causes a person to distance themselves from their environment and isolate themselves emotionally.

It is important for such a person to learn to allow himself to make mistakes. Mistake is human, and we are all human. Making mistakes helps us learn and grow, that’s all. Seeing a one-time mistake as a complete failure is a completely wrong way of thinking, and we should help such individuals get out of this “unreality”.

It is also important to learn to enjoy social relationships and leisure. In the minds of people with anancastic personality disorder, leisure or participation in non-work-related events is pointless. The fact is, however, that we all sometimes need to rest and recharge our batteries to better cope with everyday challenges.

Understandably, such people are most often exhausted both physically and mentally, so we should help them understand that there is time for everything and that rest and occasional fun are essential to both our physical and psychological well-being.

They should ask themselves, “What is the worst thing that can happen to me if I fail to complete this task?” Thinking about this can help you realize that many times we paint in our minds completely unrealistic horror scenarios about the possible consequences.

The anxious mind is always waiting for the worst possible events. This only leads to unnecessary suffering and makes it even more difficult to solve problems.

Image source: http://amaltiempobuenapsique.com/2012/10/01/combate-el-perfeccionismo/