Our Dangerous Obsession with Perfectionism is Getting Worse

Thomas Curran

In this imperfect world, Thomas Curran gives his views about how perfectionism has

affected one's mental health. He says that “in my role as mentor to many young people, I see

these lived effects of perfectionism firsthand.” The audience is young people and younger

society as he says, “young people today are more preoccupied with the attainment of the perfect

life and lifestyle.” He talks about how as people grow up they want to be perfect at everything as

they see a lot on social media and everywhere they go. Social media has a big impact on why

Thomas Curran was motivated to talk about this situation. Everything that someone posts, does

or looks like is compared to other people and it is really mentally draining.

The main message behind this video is how the pressure to be perfect -- in our social

media feeds, in school, at work -- is driving a rise in mental illness, especially among young

people. The author represents himself from what he has seen first hand. I do trust him because I

see perfectionism go on during my everyday life. I am a victim of being a perfectionist and I do

compare myself to others. It is hard sometimes because I know that I am one person myself and I

can not be another person and look at what they look like or do what they do. The word

perfectionism brings me back to my competitive dance days when everything had to be perfect

or else you were “terrible.” If my twelve year old body didn’t look fit enough and was too

skinny, then I was told to eat a burger, start going to the gym and adding muscle. But once I

started to gain weight and muscle I was told to start watching what I eat and lose weight.

Nothing ever matched how my coaches wanted me to look and it caused lots of mental and trust

issues. If it was not perfect to them, then it was not good, at all. The author states that “if we

want to help our young people outgrow this self-defeating snare of impossible perfection, then
we will raise them in a society that has outgrown that very same delusion.” The author attempts

to invoke an emotional response by talking about how it is okay to not be perfect and everyone

has their imperfections even if you can not see them. The author states that perfectionism is

about “perfecting an imperfect self,” and this was said to the whole audience as everyone in there

has their imperfections and not a single person in that room is perfect. It was stated that rates of

suicide have increase by 25% over the past two decades and this is not only because

perfectionism causing mental health problems but because perfectionism is rising as society is

changing. The evidence was said because the proof really shows, even if the drastic changes

were not only because of perfectionism, suicidal rates are going up and there needs to be a

change.

The style was very formal. This is a very sensitive topic for a lot of people and not

something that is joked about. Everyone has their own issues and mental health is a main issue

that many people struggle with. The tone that the speaker was using was very motivational. He

wanted to be heard about the topic and that there needs to be a change. No one should be

offended when hearing this talk. It is an appropriate topic that lots of people want to hear and

learn more about. I do not believe that there are any logical fallacies because this is a very

sensitive and important topic that should not be joked about.

Work Cited:

Curran, Thomas. “Our Dangerous Obsession with Perfectionism Is Getting Worse.” Thomas
Curran: Our Dangerous Obsession with Perfectionism Is Getting Worse | TED Talk,
https://www.ted.com/talks/thomas_curran_our_dangerous_obsession_with_perfectionism
_is_getting_worse?language=en.