Page 67 - March 2023

through the trauma of atelophobia experiences daily.
Avoiding Situations
Phobias of all kinds are always best categorized through avoidant behavior. Someone going through a phobia would like to avoid situations that they believe put them in a tricky position.
People who fear imperfections would never believe in themselves before approaching a tough task or situation. They would just walk away from that situation without giving themselves a chance at whatever the activity is. Atelophobia might be confused with social phobia here, but they aren’t the same. For those who aren’t aware of the difference between the both of them yet, social phobia basically means being afraid or facing a crippling fear when it comes to being scrutinized by others.
People with social phobia actually fear the judgment that comes from the social community they are presenting in from. Someone suffering from social phobia would fear what happens to them when they are faced by the community with a sales pitch. They would want to skip the scrutiny altogether by not showing up at the sales presentation or sales pitch. On the flip side, atelophobia goes through a different struggle. People with atelophobia are scared of being judged themselves. They don’t fear the judgment that comes from others but are afraid of judging their own manner of speaking and the mistakes they make.
So, someone suffering from
atelophobia would run away from all kinds of events or activities where they believe they might make a mistake.
Setting Impossible Standards
They say the standards and the objectives you set for yourself define you. You are defined by the objectives you set and follow, which is why it is necessary that you don’t get all high and greedy by setting objectives and standards that are impossible for you to live up to.
Imagine you see someone playing ball on the school ground. You are impressed by their bat lift and the way they carry themselves around the park. You set them as a standard for your own style of play. But, since you don’t have the kind of background expertise they have, you will only end up making a fool of yourself. Hence, you will never meet the expectations you set for yourself, leading to further disappointments.
Rather Do Nothing
As we have discussed in greater detail above as well, someone with atelophobia would rather do nothing than do something incorrectly. This eventually means that you are closing all doors to new experiences and are stopping yourself from opening up to the people around you.
Someone who is willing to learn new things should know that they will make mistakes in the learning process, and there will be times when someone else will correct them. Keeping this in mind, it is necessary that you don’t let your fear get the better of you. Step out to learn new experiences and always
remember that mistakes actually help you learn; you shouldn’t consider them as roadblocks on your way to success.
Fear Interferes with Your Life
Finally, you can tell that you have atelophobia when your fear of imperfections eventually interferes with the way you live your life. Your fears make it difficult for you to function in society in the manner you want, which is why you keep yourself to your restricted social circle.
Atelophobia can also mess with your daily professional life. The moment you stop yourself from learning new things and living new experiences, you will enter a sphere where you will never progress forward in your professional life. Progression in professional and private lives is linked with how willing you are to learn and study the different new concepts related to innovation.
A successful professional would always be willing to learn new things and make mistakes in the process. However, someone suffering from atelophobia wouldn’t be ready to make such mistakes. They would shy away from experience and would scar their abilities for life.
Atelophobia, or the fear of imperfections, is real. It haunts many women each year and leads to a traumatic experience. We hope this article was helpful in giving you the knowledge you need and also in providing the base you need to tackle the fear.
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