The Secret Sorrows of Over-Achievers

Being an over-achiever has also been linked to developing chronic fatigue syndrome:<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.sciencedirect.com&#x2F;science&#x2F;article&#x2F;pii&#x2F;0022399995000089" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.sciencedirect.com&#x2F;science&#x2F;article&#x2F;pii&#x2F;0022399995...</a><p>My own view is that everyone is prone to burnout and CFS after chronic stress, but over-achievers tend to be more likely to push through the negative symptoms of chronic stress, which then results in CFS.

&gt; But these over-achievers are all the while trying to secure something far more tricky, unusual and unmentioned: they are trying – through their work – to correct an aspect of a troubled emotional past.<p>Umm, <i>non sequitur</i> much?<p>I&#x27;m supposed to believe every kid who finds they&#x27;re good at something, decides to pursue this thing and then reaches success over their peers (who are also good at this thing) are secretly running away from daddy issues or whatever?<p>My &quot;troubled emotional past&quot; turned me into a complete slacker – though I do over-achieve at that so maybe they&#x27;re on to something after all?

Ah, I see that this is by the terrible &quot;The School of Life&quot;.<p>They constantly produce videos that claim to have distilled philosophical works into something practical for everyday life. They often give bad advice alongside comforting you that those grapes you couldn&#x27;t reach were sour anyways. There are many critiques of this company, but I&#x27;ve linked a critique here<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=T0uKnF_6E0Q" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=T0uKnF_6E0Q</a>

A facile assessment. We all have our demons, over-achiever or not.

That article didn’t have any sources and blamed pathological perfectionism on psychic wounds. Ok, it’s not a bad theory, but remember when we figured out that some peptic ulcers came from H. pylori, not just being uptight?<p>Behold some really fascinating research on perfectionism, OCD, and Tourette’s:<p>1. Perfectionism predicts OCD symptoms. <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.sciencedirect.com&#x2F;science&#x2F;article&#x2F;pii&#x2F;000579679500017R" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.sciencedirect.com&#x2F;science&#x2F;article&#x2F;pii&#x2F;0005796795...</a><p>2. Tourette’s, OCD, PANDAS share immune disregulation link. <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov&#x2F;pmc&#x2F;articles&#x2F;PMC5174185&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov&#x2F;pmc&#x2F;articles&#x2F;PMC5174185&#x2F;</a><p>3. Yale: Mice with grooming tics cured by giving them histamine <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.yale.edu&#x2F;2017&#x2F;06&#x2F;05&#x2F;tourette-tics-vanish-mice-treated-histamine" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.yale.edu&#x2F;2017&#x2F;06&#x2F;05&#x2F;tourette-tics-vanish-mice-t...</a><p>4. Oxford: Connection between basal ganglia, histamine, and OCD &amp; friends <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov&#x2F;pmc&#x2F;articles&#x2F;PMC4917894&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov&#x2F;pmc&#x2F;articles&#x2F;PMC4917894&#x2F;</a><p>I know the article was about personality&#x2F;perfectionism not tics&#x2F;OCD, but I find this idea that issues around “obsessiveness” could have an immune&#x2F;histamine&#x2F;basal ganglia cause so fascinating, since I myself have OCD and would very much enjoy not having it, even if that took the edge off my high-achieving&#x2F;driven personality. They haven’t teased it all out and there is no medical treatment based on all this yet. But maybe someday?

Where&#x27;s the evidence? Why is this being upvoted?