Highly Intelligent People And Depression: A Strange Relationship
Highly intelligent people do not always make the best decisions. A high IQ also does not guarantee success or happiness. Many times, intelligent people are caught in the web by their worries, existential anxiety and hopelessness.
There is a common tendency to see artistic, mathematical or scientific geniuses as “mute” creatures. Something strange, and very much related to their strangeness. Think of Hemingway, Emily Dickinson, Virginia Woolf, Edgar Allan Poe, and even Amadeus Mozart. Brilliant, creative, exceptional mind – with tragic anxiety.
But is there any truth in all that? Is there a direct link between a higher IQ and depression? Well, to begin with, higher intelligence does not necessarily contribute to the development of any mental illness.
However, there is in fact a certain disposition towards excessive worry, self-criticism and a distorted, usually negative, worldview. In many cases, these factors create ideal conditions for depression.
That said, we should mention that there are exceptions, of course. In our society, we have brilliant people who get the most out of their potential by investing not only in their own lives, but in society itself. Nevertheless, many studies and books demonstrate this unique relationship with depression, especially in people with an IQ over 170.
The personality of highly intelligent people
“The Creative Brain” is a very useful book for understanding how the brains of the smartest and most creative people work. Neurologist Nancy Andreasen carefully shows the significant tendency for geniuses in our society to develop certain disorders: bipolar disorder, depression, anxiety attacks and especially panic attacks.
Even Aristotle once showed us that intelligence goes hand in hand with melancholy. Geniuses such as Sir Isaac Newton, Arthur Schopenhauer and Charles Darwin suffered from long periods of neurosis and psychosis. Virginia Woolf, Ernest Hemingway and Vincent Van Gogh all took frightening steps to end their own lives.
These are of course all famous people. But there have always been quiet, misunderstood, lonely geniuses living in their own little worlds. They live very disconnected from a world that seems too chaotic, meaningless and disappointing to them.
Studies on highly intelligent people
With his daughter Anna Freud, Sigmund Freud studied the development of a group of children with an IQ over 130. In the study, he discovered that almost 60% of them ended up developing a major depressive disorder. It is also the famous work of Lewis Terman, a pioneer of educational psychology in the early 20th century.
It was in the 60’s when a long study of very capable children began. Children with an IQ over 170 participated in one of the most famous experiments in the history of psychology. They called these children “termites.” It was not until the 1990s that they began to draw some important conclusions from the study.
Intelligence: A heavy burden
The “Termites”, Lewis Terman’s children who were middle-aged adults, showed something interesting. There is a link between high intelligence and lower levels of life satisfaction. Many of them achieved fame and important positions in society. But many also tried to commit suicide more than once or fell into addictive habits such as alcoholism.
Another important aspect revealed by this group of people is a particular sensitivity to the problems of the world. And they do not just worry about inequality, hunger or war. Highly intelligent people are plagued by selfish, irrational and illogical behavior.
The emotional blind spot of highly intelligent people
Experts tell us that highly intelligent people sometimes develop dissociative identity disorder. They see their lives from the outside, as a narrator who uses a third person to see with thorough objectivity, but without feeling that they are fully part of it.
This focus results in “blind spots”. It’s a concept that has a lot to do with emotional intelligence, as Daniel Goleman discussed in an interesting book of the same title. It is self-deception, serious errors in perception. It is when we choose what to focus on and what to ignore to avoid responsibility.
So what very intelligent people often do is focus solely on what their environment lacks. Things out of sync, the selfish parts of the world, a world they can not fit into. They often do not have the emotional skills to find peace in this confusing world.
Another thing we can deduce about highly intelligent people is that they often have deficiencies in a critical area: emotions. This brings us to another conclusion: perhaps we should add another factor to IQ.
We talk about the wisdom factor, the knowledge we need to be happy in our daily lives. It is undeniable: wisdom is so important for your self-image, your self-esteem and a good life.
