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

easy

[Anonymous Coward]

This is easy, lots of people are too stupid to realise they have problems.
Doesn't mean they don't have problems. Smarter people are better at diagnosis.

C!=C

[ShanghaiBill]

Correlation is not causation. An obvious explanation is that intelligent people have higher incomes, and can afford to better medical care, which leads to more mental health diagnoses.

Re:C!=C

[narcc]

They sampled MENSA members. I'm surprised the rate of mental illness wasn't 100%.

You'd need to be crazy, or deeply insecure, to join a group like that.

Re:C!=C

[postbigbang]

Bright people might realize they have problems. Self-identification is part of the cure, not the problem.

Re:C!=C

[nine-times]

Also, bright people might realize that the world has problems.

There's not an objective measure of "mental illness", and determining whether you're suffering from mental illness has a lot to do with how well you fit into your role in society. A big part of the definition of mental illness is that it has to cause distress. When a person looks around at this world and their place in it, they should be distressed. If you're not suffering in some way that could be labelled "mental illness", there's probably wrong with you.

Re: C!=C

[Anonymous Coward]

Also, bright people might realize that the world has problems ...the world and themselves.

Iâ(TM)ll pick one aspect to focus on that I think helps highlight my pointâ"

I could list a dozen coworkers who drive newer cars and take regular vacations, yet have no savings or retirement.

They operate thinking only about today, or the next few weeks/months.

They also often refuse to take simple actions to correct issues in their lives, and without fail will lay blame on some external influence when things do go obviously wrong.

They have such a myopic view of their own lives how much introspection can we expect? They run on 80% instinct, which is designed to help them survive long enough to raise offspring to self sufficiency.

Anyone taking a hard look at themselves or those around them is bound to develop anxiety and other disorders.

Flawed, but believable.

[Anonymous Coward]

It seems like a flawed study in a number of ways, but it is nonetheless a believable situation.

I know a few people, co-workers and friends, who I consider brilliant. To a person they are more bothered by the disparity between how the world could be if people made better choices, and how it actually is. It is difficult for them to see a society which does not value education and understanding, where a pop celeb is held in high esteem by millions and listened to when they spout pseudoscientific babble, while scientists with real expertise are ignored.

I think the smarter you are, the more you end up disappointed by the human animal. They hide it, but it shows.

Plausible explanation in TFA

[SlaveToTheGrind]

I know, I know -- I read it. I'm sorry.

Their research was based on model that suggests intelligent people with "hyper brains" are more reactive to environmental stimulus and that “may predispose them to certain psychological disorders as well as physiological conditions involving elevated sensory and altered immune and inflammatory responses".

Their study seemed to confirm this, as it suggested that because of their increased awareness levels, those with higher IQs react more to their environment. This creates a hyper brain/hyper body scenario, where they display a hyperactive central nervous system.

So highly intelligent people focus more on the shit going on around them and melt down over it. The more oblivious percentiles brush it off (if they even noticed it at all) and move on with their lives. That seems about right.

Re:I'm depressingly sane

[Presence Eternal]

There's a joke where Bono claps his hands on stage. He then says that every time he claps his hands, a child starves to death, and some guy shouts "Then stop doing that you bastard!"

We live in a world where the death of children is so routine that you can clap to it, and this is the setup for a punchline. Your mental illness may well cause you profound pain, but it's not childish to see the world and be miserable.

Re:This explains a lot

[rtb61]

In a more sound psychological assessment. More intelligent people are much more aware of the extreme harms caused by psychopathic capitalism, it's willingness to feed upon humanity to sate it's greed and ego. This broad based extremely abusive harm is felt by them, even when they have the intellect and ability to keep it at a safe distance, they still suffer the continuous aggravation of being subject to it due to reasoned empathy.

The worst thing about it, a lot of it is based upon empty beliefs, the majority will act upon any kind of crazy assed belief, in the past, even ones that would get people like us burned at the stake. Living in that kind of crazy society awash it idiotic beliefs is extremely disturbing, only mitigated by not taking it too seriously, meh, pack of crazy assed mud monkeys what the fuck will they worship next ;D.