4 Reasons Highly Intelligent People Tend To Be Depressed

Have you ever wondered why some of the most intelligent people you know struggle with depression? In this video, we explore some of the possible reasons why highly intelligent individuals may be more susceptible to depression.

There are many factors that can contribute to depression in people with high intelligence. We'll dive into these reasons and provide some tips for managing depression if you or someone you know is struggling.

If you're looking to understand why highly intelligent people tend to be depressed and how to overcome it, this video is for you. Be sure to like and subscribe for more insightful content!

Researcher/Writer: Emma
Editor: Michal Mitchell
Script Manager: Kelly Soong
Animator: Tobiyaki
YouTube Manager: Cindy Cheong

REFERNECE:

[viya]

I'm not commenting on this video to say "I'm highly intelligent, and depressed" but just want to agree that for us people who think we're right, and surrounded by people we think are wrong, is hard... It is depressing.

[zach]

I have all these issues, the over thinking and philosophical thinking gets me down the most, though all of them definitely hurt me. On top of this I have social anxiety, zero emotional connections, and I overthink about how people will react if I tell them I'm depressed. This makes talking to someone impossible

[gianrazon]

If you want a summary of the video, here you go, everyone!
1. Overthinking and Overanalyzing 0:59
2. High Expectations 2:30
3. Too accustomed to success 3:01
4. Difficulty in making friendships 4:00

[mr.wicksnamelessdog]

I don't want to believe I'm intelligent or whatever but it sucks to be the one who understands many but not even one to understand me!💙

[GoldMoonGuy]

I'm having most of these problems. It was the time I'm very successful in school. I always at the top of the class, yet having problem managing my feelings and having hard time fitting with others as they mostly don't understand what I'm doing. And the harshest one was my abysmal level of socializing which drags me down hard. Luckily I fought back with my own hands and the help of my friends. Now even I doing worse in school than before, I feels much better as I grew stronger from that time. I may not be the best but I'm doing great enough for me.

Edit : Grammar fix

[stepha_oc]

I relate a lot with having high expectation problems. It is awful when everyone is used to you being "perfect" and every time you make a mistake, even if it is insignificant, they are going to be surprised or worried for you.

[generalgrievous]

I think a very difficult thing to deal with when you are an over-achiever is the fact it becomes "the norm". When you share things that you've done, people seem dismissive of it. "Of course you did." becomes a painful statement after a while, especially when you're particularly proud of something. The expectation that you are perfect highlights all of your mistakes and makes your achievements forgetful.

Also, people do not see the hard work that is put into the things you do and do not understand your hardship, you're expected to act "normal" although you're constantly working.

Racing thoughts, over-analysing and perfectionism are also annoying. I constantly feel exhausted and it's hard to turn your brain off. And, if you do switch off, people wonder why you're being unresponsive or confused, compared to the usual, and either get worried or find you weird.

[asleepawake]

One of the topics that touched me was having it easy and not being trained in perseverance. I think I'm average but I definitely second that, perhaps the most important lesson that people like this need to learn is how to fail. Intelligent people might be so scared of failing because they never learned that failing itself and leaning from it is an achievement by itself. Maybe this is what leads people to anxiety and worse, suicide

[avidlearner]

All 4 points apply to me. I just had a hard time with a new friendship and it's a pattern. I overanalayzed scenarios and went into a spiral of depression, I also have extremely high expectations of myself and others around me as well. I also have a hard time learning new skill and I have definitely been a target of easy success according to our schooling system and when you grow up you realize success in not only based on intelligence. Thanks for this video, it just gives me an insight

[Aan]

Timestamps
1). Overthinking and overanalyzing 0:58
2). High expectations 2:30
3). Too accustomed to success 3:01
4). Difficulty in making friendships 4:00

Hope this helps you out. Hope you have a nice day. Sorry this is so late. 💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙

[remi.scarlet.]

I don't want to claim that I'm overly intelligent or speak of "them" and "us", but I relate with most of these points.
I'm in midst of Highschool and feel pretty disappointed by the German school system.

I often find myself misunderstood by even teachers, when trying to convey my points which mostly results in me skipping entire school weeks.
With this much free time and no one to waste it with (since all my friends are at school) I tend to work on ambitious programing projects of mine, which became my hobby at this point and realize that Id need to put way to much work into one of them to actually finish anything.
This results in me being demotivated, being in a bad mood and constantly going down a spiral of overthinking and asking myself WTF LIFE IS ABOUT.
All of our existence's are so pointless that the thought became depressing.

[diegomiranda]

I think the most common one is high expectations, every single gifted kid that has talked to me about their experience have told me about the burn out they feel because of the impossibly high expectations them and their loved ones has set for them, then when they fail they suffer from imposter syndrome and it sucks, it really does, school and society isnt built for smart kids or for kids with less than average intelligence

[snouthlly]

A year ago I was constantly overthinking every single thing that happened in my life. It made me depressed and I couldn’t handle it anymore. I literally had to force myself to just stop thinking. I’m a lot happier now even though my friends who also have a high IQ make fun of me because it looks like my head is completely empty.

[lalalilboii]

Depression and anxiety, yeah the wombo combo 😎

[crystalinerain]

I think that another part of it is that you have high expectations for yourself, but also for other people. Personally, I've found that I am constantly disappointed with other people, because I'm so used to having high standards for myself, and I automatically apply them to other people.

[psychgomandarin]

0:00 intro
0:58 1. Overthinking and Overanalyzing
2:30 2. High Expectations
3:01 3. Too accustomed to success
3:59 4. Difficulty in making friendships
4:50 outro

[Silly_Echo]

Your videos are so comforting and make me feel less alone, thank you <3

[mikachu]

As someone who struggles with mental health, I can relate to all of these. Especially the maintaining friendships part.

[WLMaximus]

The questions I ask people around me often surprise them, half the time I get an "Oh I´ve never thought of that", or "Why would you worry about that". I made my peace with the possibility of me dying at any moment due to undiagnosed tumors or someone running me over etc at the age of 17. Now I´m 21 and still most people I know haven´t wasted a thought on death and what happens to the world around them when they die. I just constantly thought and learned about the world from a young age, but the more you learn, the more you worry, because everywhere you look, something shady is going on, and the future doesn´t look good either.
You will get depressed if you just look far enough into the abyss

[mikaarose]

I relate to this video so many ways reaching high expectations and this makes me depressed and have anxiety I’ve managed my overthinking by mindfulness and breathing I’m still a working progress but once I get there I’ll know I’ll be a very well rounded person with a extra bonus of being intelligent 😊 love n light to all of you 🌸