Perfectionism
Perfectionism, as a cognitive distortion, is the belief that oneself and others must always perform flawlessly, so that even a minor, genuinely unimportant shortfall provokes real distress. The standard applied is not simply high but effectively unreachable, guaranteeing repeated disappointment regardless of how well things actually go.
Illustration
A man becomes visibly upset over a single, barely noticeable typo in an otherwise well-received report he spent weeks preparing, unable to feel any satisfaction in the work as a whole because of the one small imperfection.
References
- Casey, P. & Kelly, B. (2019). Fish's Clinical Psychopathology, 4th ed. Appendix II, 'Defences and Distortions'.