Perfectionism

The following was taken from Wikipedia :

Perfectionism, in psychology, is a belief that perfection can and should be attained. In its pathological form, perfectionism is a belief that work or output that is anything less than perfect is unacceptable. At such levels, this is considered an unhealthy belief, and psychologists typically refer to such individuals as maladaptive perfectionists.

- Burns (also in Parker & Adkins) defines perfectionists as "people who strain compulsively and unremittingly toward impossible goals and who measure their own worth entirely in terms of productivity and accomplishment"

- Perfectionists may be workaholics who cannot relax; people who reproach themselves for days after the smallest error, such as a word out of place; the person so intent on finding the perfect mate that they never settle down; the procrastinator; the finicky person; and so on. Perfectionists tend to be exceptionally sensitive to criticism.

- Perfectionists are focused on personal integrity and can be wise, discerning and inspiring in their quest for the truth. They also tend to dissociate themselves from their flaws or what they believe are flaws (such as negative emotions) and can become hypocritical and hyper-critical of others, seeking the illusion of virtue to hide their own vices. The greatest fear of Perfectionists is to be flawed and their ultimate goal is perfection.

I can't believe how accurately these points described someone I know to the T. To be honest, this is not the original edition of this post... after some quick consideration, I've decided to change it, in case this someone happened to stumble upon here, and I might be accused of scarring him for life. I guess Sam is the only priviledged one to have read the original. ;p