February 17, 2015
A University of Pennsylvania task force — which formed following a wave of suicides — said in a report on Tuesday that "destructive perfectionism" is a factor in stress among students, The Daily Pennsylvanian reported.
The Task Force on Student Psychological Health and Welfare was formed in February 2014 following six student suicides in 15 months, according to The Daily Pennsylvanian.
The committee's report, which focuses on cultural changes, said the university needs to focus on correcting "destructive perfectionism" among students. It defines "destructive perfectionism" as “the drive for academic excellence along with the perception that in order to be successful one needs to hold leadership roles in multiple realms contributes to the amount of stress and distress experienced by Penn students.”
The report makes four recommendations:
While the report focuses on UPenn and its students, there has been an uptick in self-injury and suicidal thoughts among college students overall.
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