Vim & Vigor - Spring 2018 - Community Healthcare - 31

PERFECT TRAP:

Parenting

Perfectionism is a problem most new moms know all too
well. You want to be the perfect mom, do it all without
any help-and maybe even capture the perfection in your
social media posts. Biali Haas recommends trying to reduce
your exposure to the latter. "Social media is such a source
of pressure. Even if you logically know that everyone on
Facebook is curating their lives and you're not seeing their
messy reality, just scrolling through it can still have negative effects," she says.
So, why are moms so prone to perfectionism in the
first place?
"Because perfectionism is based
on the notion of your self-worth,
and that's also why it's so hard
to shake," Lombardo says. It
takes making a conscious shift
toward unconditional acceptance, where you believe in
yourself not because your
child behaved perfectly
or got into an elite university, but because
of your own values
and strengths.
"When you start
doing that and
changing how you
perceive yourself,"
Lombardo says,
"then everything shifts." ■

WHEN
PERFECTION IS
IN OVERDRIVE
Living a life you love can be tough if you're
a perfectionist.
The quest to get everything right every time
can adversely affect your health on multiple
levels, according to Christina Outlaw, CNS, a
nurse practitioner with Behavioral Health of
Community Healthcare System.
"Perfectionists who continually set unattainably high standards can experience weight gain,
hair loss and gastrointestinal issues," Outlaw says.
"Perfectionism leads to anxiety and can cause your
immune system to falter."
"You may start to lose sleep because you can't
turn your mind off or you're opting out of a good
night's rest to keep pace with a daunting array of
projects," she says. "If you're overdoing it in the
food department or not getting proper exercise,
it's easy to get caught up in a vicious cycle. When
that happens, it's important to break that cycle."
Outlaw recommends a visit to the Centers for
Mental Wellness if your perfectionism is getting an
upper hand on your healthy lifestyle.
"Developing a plan through counseling can help
a perfectionist slow down, get organized, set realistic goals and put their life at home and work in
better balance," Outlaw says.
For clients struggling with depression or anxiety,
Outlaw says sleep aids, medication for mood stabilization or talk therapy offered through the intensive outpatient program may be prescribed.
"Too many people think they need to power
through their days when all they really need to do
is create a list to sort through what needs to be
tackled first, second or third," Outlaw says. "Once
a perfectionist picks up that rhythm, it becomes
the perfect motivation to keep it going."

PHOTOS BY GETTY IMAGES

CALL

A Perfect Balance
Feeling blue over your drive to be perfect?
A behavioral health specialist with the
Centers for Mental Wellness can help.
Call 219-836-7074.

SPRING 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Vim & Vigor - Spring 2018 - Community Healthcare