Why Intelligent People Are Prone to Depression!
As attractive as it may sound when we hear and read about the super smart and intellectual high-flyers, these people do not automatically lead a life on the sunny side. They may be blessed with more brains and intellect than the average individual, but that is usually where their blessings end. From an early age, they experience the world around them in slow motion. Other children, and later on, other people, are often too slow for them, they don't understand them, they automatically think they know better, precisely because they do know a lot better. A relaxed adulthood is not granted to these highly intelligent people. They learn early on what it means to be different from the rest. And if anything makes childhood difficult, it's the experience of being different. Later in life, many of these super-smart people find their place. They make a name for themselves in science and research or create their niche where they can shine. What falls by the wayside, however, is happiness. An above-average number of highly intelligent people suffer from depression in the course of their lives. In this article, we would like to present 4 reasons why this is the case.
1. You set your expectations too high
From childhood on, growing up with the knowledge of being better, smarter and more promising than the rest does not leave people untouched. This enormous expectation from the outside does something to them, and it manifests itself above all in their self-image. Those who devote their entire lives to the Olympic motto "faster, higher, stronger" never have a moment to rest. There is no time out or vacation from one's own awesomeness in this game. Unlike normally talented people, highly intelligent people are always on duty. They feel a kind of secret obligation to their talent. But even such mundane feelings as pride and ambition are not neglected in this unfortunate arrangement. In sum, the result is a cocktail of great feelings and no less great expectations that must be constantly met. Healthy ambition and devoting one's lifeblood to a cause for which one has a passion and loves is a wonderful thing. To burn because you can't help it and have nothing else to live for is hell. The highly gifted experience the difference between being driven and being inspired every day first hand. While ordinary mortals can enjoy time off and rejoice in their accomplishments, this little luxury is not afforded to the super smart. Even their sense of achievement is only of occasional interest to them. For them, after the victory is before the next battle.
2. Making and maintaining friendships is difficult
This is probably where the greatest danger lurks, to be a sitting duck for the dark captors of depression. Already as a child, the highly gifted individual has a hard time making friends. Children have an unmistakable sense of when someone doesn't fit the norm. In addition, intellectual overachievers simply know more than others, express themselves more selectively and have a larger vocabulary. All of this sounds like an advantage on the launch pad of life, but as a child it quickly leads to being labeled as weird. When it comes to friends, the situation is unfortunately not so good. For the children themselves, this circumstance is not so bad. They have many hobbies and interests that can just as easily be pursued alone. What they miss out on, however, is social experience and interaction with others. How best to behave later in life is learned in the sandbox and on the playground. This is, in fact, where a deficit arises that the highly gifted must carry with them throughout their lives. In adulthood, perhaps this void can be filled by peers or work colleagues. How to cultivate friendships and relationships, however, will always remain a major gap in knowledge.
3. A higher IQ leads to more reflection
The whimsical bon mot "He who thinks gets more out of life" does not apply to highly intelligent people. They think constantly. Their mind is like a beehive that never comes to rest. They simply can't ignore information that comes at them. Where more thoughts flow, negative thought processes and patterns naturally accumulate, which are not exactly uplifting. With every thought processed through their minds, the most mundane things are simply overanalyzed. These include not only the events in everyday life or in the news, but also complex contexts or philosophical questions, which generally tend strongly towards existentialism. The saying "ignorance is bliss" can therefore not be overstated by the highly intelligent. However, since every question is not necessarily followed by a satisfactory answer, if at all, excessive demands and helplessness are pre-programmed. This perceived hopelessness sooner or later pushes the especially gifted into a corner. They see no solution and no light at the end of the tunnel of this eternal thought spiral. Waiting for a satisfying result of their mental exercise fails to materialize. Without a sense of achievement, feelings of fear, helplessness and a permanent sense of failure lead them straight into depression.
4. You are used to the easy way
Reading and writing at 3, arithmetic at 5 and the high school diploma at 14? No problem for the highly intelligent. On the way to the top, they quickly start up a few companies and invent groundbreaking technologies. Learning is unspeakably easy for them, because their minds are eager for new things and readily absorb every piece of information. But at some point, even this road to happiness leads to a point where easy is over. Even the super-smart meet their match sooner or later in life. This can be understood literally. Someone exists on this planet who is even more gifted and even more talented than they are. Or they are confronted with a task that cannot be solved. Every other person would now sit down and devote themselves to the problem in full measure. They would fiddle and calculate, research and investigate until a plausible result emerges. The highly intelligent do not do this, and for one single reason. They have never learned to stick to one thing for any length of time because it has not been necessary up to now. Those who can handle life and adversity with a snap of their fingers are hopelessly overwhelmed by a stop sign. Overcoming obstacles is extraordinarily difficult for the gifted. Their pride is wounded, and at first they can't believe that there are things that don't just fall into their laps. Their ego first has to cope with this setback. But they lack the practice in doing so. The interplay of all these circumstances triggers an emotional chain reaction that can quite often herald a depressive phase.
Today's Conclusion: Above average in every respect
With great power and high intelligence comes great responsibility. Unfortunately, nothing is written about great joy in the life plan of the highly intelligent and if so, the chapter should be quite short. They are indeed marginal figures in society because they do not fit into any framework or scheme. Their cleverness either frightens us or gnaws at our self-confidence. Neither necessarily leads us to seek contact with them. This circumstance, combined with the trench warfare within them, is unfortunately a sure one-way ticket toward depression. That's it for today.