High IQ means more risk of mental illness

[MillCreek]

https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/having-a-higher-iq-puts-you-more-at-risk-of-mental-illness-study-finds/

Thank God I am safe.

[RocketMan]

Sometimes being as dumb as a rock is a good thing.

[230RN]

I dimly recall hearing some discussion on this back in college where it was supposed that it's true up to a point, but with very very high IQ, not so much.  The main problem with being scientifically confident with this at the time was the low Ns involved.

Florence, our psych class matriarch (40 yo, finally getting to go for her degree) put it this way:

"Very bright people join Mensa.  Very, very bright people join Mensa Squared. Very, very, very bright people join the Rotarians and the Optimists and their Church Choirs."

Nobody dared argue with Florence.  

Terry, 230RN

[Hawkmoon]

Hmmm ...

The study, published in Science Direct, looked at Mensa members with an IQ of over 130 and found that “those with high intelligence are at significantly greater risk for the examined psychological disorders and physiological diseases.”

The study found that anxiety disorders were particularly prevalent amongst the 3,715 members of American Mensa they surveyed. Of these members, 20 percent had a diagnosed anxiety disorder, much higher than in the general population, where just over 10 percent are diagnosed with anxiety disorders.

Maybe it just means smarter people are smart enough to seek help when they have a problem. When they seek help, they get diagnosed. The dumb-as-a-rock population, on the other hand (the Archie Bunkers of the world) don't have any problems. Somebody else is always the problem, so they are unlikely to seek out help and, therefore, are less likely to be diagnosed.

[Pb]

I'm pretty sure the type of people that join MENSA are not a random sample of smart people.   

[MikeB]

Gee, high IQ, anxiety correlation suddenly a surprise? How is this not already known? There is a reason so called geeks/nerds have elevated anxiety. And I say this as someone with a higher IQ, self acknowledged geek/nerd status and definitively acknowledged anxiety issues. Isn’t this the subject of much or our media/movies about people smarter than the average bear? Have none of the researchers seen the Big Bang Theory as a modern example?

Now then I think mental illness may not be the best description for general anxiety vs actual dangerous mental ‘illness’. Also I’m thinking Mensa members may not be representative samples of generally high IQ people vs high IQ people that need others to know they are high IQ people.

[230RN]

^
"Also I’m thinking Mensa members may not be representative samples of generally high IQ people vs high IQ people that need others to know they are high IQ people."

Well, that was kind of Florence's point.

And nobody argued with Florence.

[AZRedhawk44]

Hmmm ...

Maybe it just means smarter people are smart enough to seek help when they have a problem. When they seek help, they get diagnosed. The dumb-as-a-rock population, on the other hand (the Archie Bunkers of the world) don't have any problems. Somebody else is always the problem, so they are unlikely to seek out help and, therefore, are less likely to be diagnosed.

Partly this...

... but also I think there is a higher societal expectation on people with known high IQ's.  Peak performance is a constant demand from high IQ people in jobs appropriate to their skillsets.  Doctors, scientists, engineers, software developers and the like.

No one gives a *expletive deleted*it when the underperforming fry cook burns the food and complains about life's injustices.  But when the rocket scientist contributes to a situation that causes 3 launch scrubs in a week, the scope of communal ownership over that person's mental health seems to be greater than the same scope of communal ownership of the fry cook. 

Pretty much anyone in a "professional" position has far less leeway in mental health variance on a day to day basis before outside influences start to claim a grievance against any impairment, than lay working class.  But the highest IQ positions have even less tolerance for anything short of innovation or advancement on a constant rate.

[kgbsquirrel]

A roughly 70% correlation of high intellect with some degree of mental or emotional imbalance has been known for a long time. 

[zxcvbob]

I dimly recall hearing some discussion on this back in college where it was supposed that it's true up to a point, but with very very high IQ, not so much.  The main problem with being scientifically confident with this at the time was the low Ns involved.

Florence, our psych class matriarch (40 yo, finally getting to go for her degree) put it this way:

"Very bright people join Mensa.  Very, very bright people join Mensa Squared. Very, very, very bright people join the Rotarians and the Optimists and their Church Choirs."

Nobody dared argue with Florence.  

Terry, 230RN

Never heard of Mensa Squared before, that's like the top 2% of Mensans?  My SAT scores were high enough back in the day that SAT scores mattered that I qualify for Mensa.  (I think my IQ is in the low 140s)  But I never had any interest in it.  I'm more into things like the church choir
Florence seems nice.

[Blakenzy]

High IQ people need to 1) learn how to slack and coast, and 2) find the bittersweet amusement that the inferiority of others provides.

[Ron]

If you have a high IQ child it is probably double important that you teach and instill in them the ability to not only empathize but learn how to communicate with others less gifted with intelligence.

It will benefit those around them and also benefit themselves, in that they will be able to expand their support/social network around them, having more friends that love them.

[WLJ]

Guess this helps explain why I keep breaking out in an uncontrollable evil laugh

[ConstitutionCowboy]

Bing of above average intelligence has never been a problem for me - problem for me - problem for me - problem for me - problem for me - problem for me - problem for me ...

Woody

[MechAg94]

If you have a high IQ child it is probably double important that you teach and instill in them the ability to not only empathize but learn how to communicate with others less gifted with intelligence.

It will benefit those around them and also benefit themselves, in that they will be able to expand their support/social network around them, having more friends that love them.

IMO, communication up and down is a useful skill along with maintaining humility in both situations. 

[tokugawa]

"What? Me, worry?!"

[AJ Dual]

High IQ people need to 1) learn how to slack and coast, and 2) find the bittersweet amusement that the inferiority of others provides.

I slack and coast, and it causes anxiety with unfinished tasks and scrambling to meet deadlines.

And I find that lower IQ people aren't universally inferior, especially if they have superior drive and motivation.

I would gladly trade a few IQ points for more diligence and motivation points.

[Ron]

and then there are those of us who aren't VH IQ or particularly highly motivated 

[Brad Johnson]

If you have a high IQ child it is probably double important that you teach and instill in them the ability to not only empathize but learn how to communicate with others less gifted with intelligence.

It will benefit those around them and also benefit themselves, in that they will be able to expand their support/social network around them, having more friends that love them.

Very much agreed. My parents never had to worry about my academic performance (though I often wish they had because later in life I found this childhood breezing-through-things set me up for some pretty hard falls when I hit early adulthood). Unfortunately, they also presumed my intellectual abilities equaled empathy and social equilibrium. What it really did was make me impatient, emotionally cold, and socially distant. I took some serious hard knocks during early adulthood as a result. Am I better for it? Absolutely. Doesn't mean I wish it hadn't been different.

Brad

[kgbsquirrel]

I slack and coast, and it causes anxiety with unfinished tasks and scrambling to meet deadlines.

And I find that lower IQ people aren't universally inferior, especially if they have superior drive and motivation.

I would gladly trade a few IQ points for more diligence and motivation points.

So much this.

[fifth_column]

I slack and coast, and it causes anxiety with unfinished tasks and scrambling to meet deadlines.

And I find that lower IQ people aren't universally inferior, especially if they have superior drive and motivation.

I would gladly trade a few IQ points for more diligence and motivation points.

Me too.  Not that I can afford to lose any more IQ points . . . .

[Jim147]

I can relate to so many things in this thread. I guess that's why I try to kill as many brain cells as I can a night with whiskey.

[WLJ]

I can relate to so many things in this thread. I guess that's why I try to kill as many brain cells as I can a night with whiskey.

Can't take them with you

[Jim147]

And can't give them away.