Intelligent People More At Risk of Mental Illness, Study Finds (independent.co.uk)

schwit1 shares a report from The Independent: The stereotype of a tortured genius may have a basis in reality after a new study found that people with higher IQs are more at risk of developing mental illness. A team of U.S. researchers surveyed 3,715 members of American Mensa with an IQ higher than 130. An "average IQ score" or "normal IQ score" can be defined as a score between 85 and 115. The team asked the Mensa members to report whether they had been diagnoses with mental illnesses, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). They were also asked to report mood and anxiety disorders, or whether the suspected they suffered from any mental illnesses that had yet to be diagnosed, as well as physiological diseases, like food allergies and asthma. After comparing this with the statistical national average for each illness they found that those in the Mensa community had considerably higher rates of varying disorders. While 10 per cent of the general population were diagnosed with anxiety disorder, that rose to 20 percent among the Mensa community, according to the study which published in the Science Direct journal.

Comments

Re:I'm depressingly sane

[Gravis Zero]

I envy those people I know who are capable of insanity and irrationality.

Then you're a fool.

It's a problem because the rational person sees a lot of the bad in the world and can't really alleviate their own suffering other than by taking mind altering substances or temporarily distracting activities.

As someone who suffers from mental illness, I perceive people who are distraught by the everyday evils in the world to be like children crying over spilled milk. You seek to escape what I would consider an ideal state. The world isn't great but you fail to recognize that it's full of issues that can be rectified.