Higher IQ and Depression

Being a high IQ person is actually really alienating and isolating and it can be very lonely and it can absolutely foster feelings of depression.

#HighIQ #BehaviorDisorders #MentalHealth #Intelligence #Struggle #Neurodiversity #CognitiveAbilities #BrainHealth #EmotionalIntelligence #MentalWellness

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[Alice_Walker]

I also wonder if it's because being able to clearly and objectively grasp the state of the world and all the challenges we need to navigate can feel very grim 🤷🏻‍♀️

[gee-wizz.]

People with a high IQ, are realists. They see and understand reality more clearly. An excellent prescription for mood disorders.

[mafumofu]

Well now everyone's going to think they're geniuses because they can't socialise normally

[lynnebucher]

I never thought about this correlation before but do recall a couple of frustrating relationships with men who were very personable and nice, but definitely were lacking in IQ and therefore were not a good match. Our mental gears are always turning and we SEE and feel so much at one time that it can be overwhelming. I must say that most people I know who are in and way above my IQ level do seem to have far more emotional angst and life dissatisfaction than the average person.

[lilystarr]

I recognized this in kindergarten. My peers looked like they were sedated. They didn't make eye contact, and not all of them knew the alphabet. It challenged my reality construct and made me very depressed. Their blind obedience to the teacher scared the crap out of me. They did as instructed, no questions asked. It felt very dystopian. I think about it all the time.

[Ottedikkie]

I have high functioning, high masking autism, my IQ is 140, and I have had depression for as long as I can remember.
You are right.😢

[AG-iulv]

This is probably why I loved college so much. I wasn't weird for liking brainy things, and I had actual peers

[colorfulbeauty]

I have struggled to communicate with my own family. However I really need people with developmental disabilities in my life. They make me realize I think too hard about too many things. Sometimes you just need a friend and love

[dr.tinalight]

Excellent point! Another reason is that a more intelligent person realizes the consequences of their actions and tends to not throw emotionally charged fits and so bottle them up to stay safe...

[SuperRodriguez]

As an adult, at work, I was bullied for using, words, ( I call 75cent words). I hated having to "dumb" myself down so I could earn a paycheck, while pregnant. Even one young lady threatened to beat me up, for using words like, "beverage". This is how I talk naturally, I was not speaking this way to feel superior.

[scottj]

Is it possible that the environment which causes the depression provokes our minds to develop faster? I grew up with a lot of mistreatment and was always highly intelligent, it felt like my mind was scrambling to make sense of my situation

[eh]

Yes. Some of us just stop talking. Because if we speak we have to explain things or fix things. It's not worth going down the 45 min rabbit hole.

[patrickshepherd]

I have a PhD in engineering, but used to always work minimum wage jobs for a long time. I quit telling people about my degree because it changes the conversation as soon as I say it. I used to mention that I was in grad school to my barbers when they would ask what I did for work, and the conversation would immediately fall flat. I feel like they didn't know what to say to me anymore once they knew, because they maybe stopped looking at me as just another guy. It's much easier to connect with people in general when they don't know. At the end of the day I'm still just normal, and it's taxing to have to convince people of that.

[LisaLombardini-ru]

I am a grateful I ran across your posts online! I feel everything that you say, you are talking about me! I’ve been to a lot of therapist and I’m really tired of them Just saying what they think you wanna hear!!
I want help!
I appreciate all of your videos and thank you so much!!!

[countessdelancret]

Yes. However for me it creates anxiety which then causes depression. It’s funny how the healthcare system can’t seem to wrap their minds around anxiety causing depression. They really love to push it the other way around. Antidepressants do nothing for me. It isn’t just the IQ either, to be fare I also have high functioning autism.

[TheComedyGeek]

IQ of 142. School was super easy for me, and so on. There have been many times in my life where I have had to fight back the feeling that I live in a world full of children. I have to remind myself that they are normal, and I am the one who is different.

[Adama.]

Quick reminder that IQ doesn't mean much. I work in a laboratory and there are a lot of people with high iq working there but you really can't notice it at all, they can be just as lazy or honestly bad at their job as anyone else.

[gaileverett]

Ahh! You got me. Right where it hurts. I don't think I'm at 130, but I was high enough to get into Mensa. And I remember 7th grade as a constant struggle about why other kids in my classes just didn't get things, or didn't know things. I was quite obnoxious for a long time, until after college I decided that the only way to get along was to hide my intellilgence. God it was painful. It still is, but I'm used to it now and have also learned that high intelligence has nothing to do with kindness or just being a nice person. But even now, my book discussion group considers me the fussiest (i.e., most critical and not always in a good way) reader out of everyone there.

[Kiymbah]

In childhood i scored 176, but my most recent score was 146.
My son is intellectually disabled, but he shows me signs of intelligence in ways which are atypical.
For example; he often talks about things I'm thinking or mentions someone whom I'm texting when i had said their name aloud.
They way we measure intelligence with a silly test like that, can not measure all the variety of ways intelligence shows up.
Some have physical intelligence for athletics, others musical, artistic, phychic abilites and more.
Sometimes my abilities to understand all the dynamics in a room is overwhelming and yes, i do suffer from depression. I also have skills to assist me in getting free of that affliction.
I won't win at trivia, but i will understand the inner working of your mind better than you do.

[zerjiozerjio]

Ha. This explains a lot. My mother likely has a much higher IQ than I do, despite no formal education. And she and I always gravitated to each other for understanding. That, and my closest friends tend to be smarter than me, and they are usually published authors or authorities in their fields. And interacting with the average person feels kind of frustrating, and they all think I’m a genius.
I bet I’m not even on the higher end of that genius threshold, so I can imagine how the actual geniuses feel. Also, I’m a social worker and educator, so I’ve developed a lot of social and teaching skills designed for the average bear. And let me tell you, higher intelligence without discipline and social skills is useless compared to an average person’s great efforts and social connections. The high IQ is a curse, my friends. It’s nothing to be proud of either: your actions and character are the only things that count in the end — and everyone can work on those.