Previous studies showed that perfectionism has an important role in the aetiology and maintenance of a variety of mental disorders. It seems the role of perfectionism in relation to bipolar and major depressive disorders is not clear.

In the present study we investigated the differences among major depression, bipolar disorder, and control subjects regarding negative and positive perfectionism.

40 normal subjects as well as 80 depressed and bipolar subjects from Quds hospital in Sanadaj were chosen. Each group consisted of 40 subjects. The control group was matched with the other two groups in regard to sex, age, marital status, employment, economic class and education level. The bipolar and depressed subjects were interviewed based on criteria of the DSM IV in order to confirm the diagnosis. The members of control group had to first fill in the General Health questionnaire (GHQ) and after confirming their health they should have filled in the Positive and Negative Perfectionism Scale (PANPS). In the groups of bipolar and depressed subjects GHQ and then PANPS were carried out.

Results show that there are significant differences among bipolar, depressed, and normal subjects regarding negative and positive perfectionism scores. Also the average score of negative perfectionism is higher among the depressed subjects in comparison to the bipolar disordered subjects.

According to the present study although both bipolar and depressed subjects showed more negative and less positive perfectionism than the control group, the depressed group showed more negative perfectionism than the other two groups.