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People with Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder (OCPD) are the stereotypical perfectionists. Because perfectionism may be adaptive, it is especially critical in the case of OCPD to emphasize that behaviors must be so extreme that they cause clinically significant discomfort before an individual is diagnosed with OCPD. The "Type A" individual does not, in most cases, have OCPD. In order to be diagnosed with OCPD, a person must be so preoccupied with rules, schedules, and perfection that she or he loses sight of the major goals of activities. Tasks are seldom or never completed because the result is never good enough. Nevertheless, the person with OCPD is so preoccupied with work that all leisure activities fall by the wayside. It is typical of people with OCPD that they can't bear to discard worthless items; for example, in some cases their houses become filled with garbage and old newspapers. People with OCPD have trouble delegating any work to others for fear it won't be done perfectly. As in the case of other personality disorders, a person needs to have several, but not all, of the typical characteristics of the disorder to receive the diagnosis. OCPD is different from Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) because, in the latter, the emphasis is on specific obsessions and compulsions that dominate the behavioral picture, while in OCPD there is a general picture of perfectionism without the limited rituals of OCD. An article that further explains OCPD and how it differs from OCD is available at this web site. Read a book on the subject: Stop Obsessing! How to Overcome Your Obsessions and Compulsions by Edna B. Foa, R. Reid Wilson
Last updated 12/19/03 |
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