Atelophobia is an intense and excessive fear of being imperfect or making mistakes, says Aimee Daramus, PsyD, a licensed clinical psychologist. It is a specific type of phobia, an anxiety disorder characterized by a persistent and excessive fear of an object or situation.

    With atelophobia, individuals tend to fear any type of imperfection in their lives. This leads to various psychological disturbances such as negative self-judgement, anxiety, stress, inadequacy, low self-esteem and depression.

   People with atelophobia may set unrealistic goals for themselves, avoid or not complete certain tasks or challenges that could lead them to make mistakes, and may obsess over mistakes they have previously made or the ones that they think might be made.

    Due to constant self-judgment and negative self-evaluation, individuals with atelophobia often reinforce and propagate their fear of not being good enough not....