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In this episode of Care Conversations, Nicole Trevino, vice president of student success at TimelyCare, discusses the impact of perfectionism on college students. Join Nicole and host Sushi Suresh as they dive into strategies for how colleges and universities can help support students.
Care Conversations is an audio series by TimelyCare, higher education’s most trusted virtual health and well-being provider. Each conversation offers thoughtful insights from a subject-matter expert on different topics impacting the health and well-being of campus communities.
How have you seen perfectionism impact students mental health?
Nicole Trevino:
Students become stressed and burnt out. There’s such a desire to be perfect, to succeed in their major, to land that perfect internship, to land that perfect job, or get into that particular graduate school post-graduation.
Students will often work, work, work, and not take care of themselves. They get burned out as a result of trying to be that perfect scholar of sorts.
What types of resources and programs helped those students in those situations?
Nicole Trevino:
In my experience, having marketing campaigns on campus that promote recharging, taking care of yourself, and being mindful of your overall well-being and your mental health are helpful. Successful institutions have these types of campaigns in place, and it’s something that’s not just for students. It’s for faculty, staff, and students alike.
The other piece is having these conversations as early as orientation, encouraging students to take advantage of the resources, and educating parents, guardians, and family supporters about all the resources that are on campus, so as their students call home stressed or needing support, they can redirect and remind students what’s available there in the campus community to support them.
Sushi Suresh:
I love that! Setting the standard from the get-go with orientation and a student’s support system can go a long way.
What are things that faculty, staff and administrators can do to address the negative impacts of perfectionism on students and also help support their academic performance and well-being?
Nicole Trevino:
Remember that you’re role modeling for your students. Talk about the practices and how you take care of yourself, how you recharge yourself, and share that with your students.
Encourage your students to use resources just as we’re talking about taking care of ourselves. Utilize what’s available within your community.
Another way to help students is to step into a mentor role to really help students along the way.
Sushi Suresh:
I think that’s so important. I remember when I was a student, having a faculty or staff member really acknowledge these things, and having that open dialog like that made such a huge impact on me. I just felt more open to coming to them with some of the issues I had around perfectionism.
Closing Thought: Perfectionism often leads to student burnout due to the pressure to excel academically and professionally. However, with the help of faculty and staff stepping into mentor roles, students can navigate their academic careers.
This transcript has been edited from the original conversation for clarity.
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