Link with High I.Q. and depression?

It could be true. The flipside of 'Ignorance is Bliss'.

 

I'm depressed about being so dumb, but maybe I'm the exception.

 

Not directed towards you, pippen, because it's a common misconception, but the actual quote reads " Ignorance is bliss when 'tis folly to be wise..." ie, never. Oddly it has become synonomous with being a mantra for the opposite of it's original point, and not a little ironic, considering the subject matter.

 

I blame George Orwell.

 

How old are you and your friend, Fatty? There are certainly ages for guys when depression is more common, especially if you aren't satisfied by the partying or salary track.

I'd also like to hear your definition of depression. For me, frustration is defined by the gap between my expectations and reality. Add a sense of utter futility about being able to bridge that gap along with a belief that meeting said expectations is the most important or only important thing in your life, and I think you would arrive at depression.

Alternatively, I think in an intelligent individual, a lack of a worthwhile goal could cause depression by itself.

To get back to your question, I think part of the reason could be that you may be too intelligent or self-aware to participate in the self-deceptive or self-distractive behaviours that a large part of our society uses to ignore the frustration in their lives.

I believe that the ironic thing is that if you are talking about mental health aside from hormonal imbalances, you are as depressed or adjusted as you perceive yourself to be. The portion of our society that I mentioned above is actually behaving in ways that are good for their mental health. They can focus on what makes them happy, while accepting the rest as the price for it. Highly intelligent people may be more likely to engage in detailed self-analysis, leaving them dissatisfied in many cases, especially because someone who is more capable will have higher goals and expectations.

Interesting topic, FFB.

 

I think both are due to the way that chemicals are transmitted in the brain. So it would seem possible that you are correct. But I think unlikely. You should seek two things. Therapy and possibly medication. You may find it helpful if you have not already explored those avenues.

 

IQ of 172? With a buddy that has 169?

The odds of that are probably 1 in 10 billion.

Albert Einstein's IQ was just over 160.

The average Nobel Prize winner is between 155-164.

Charles Darwin was at 165.

Bobby Fischer at 187.

Mozart at 165.

Rezdawg is at 141. Crap.

 

rez, I scored a good 178 two years ago, so I know it is possible.

 

Well Fatty...I am gonna have to say clinical depression isn't linked with high intelligence. I think if you are depressed then you are just depressed. I have a high IQ as well, not as high as yours but still around 150. I have only had problems with depression when things were going crappy in my life and never because of my intelligence. In fact, my intelligence is what has saved me and allowed me to grow from the crap I went through. Also, I have had lots of friends in school who were very intelligent and they never seemed to be disproportionately depressed. Also...I just found this link to a study about depression and gifted kids and it basically finds no link between the two. http://www.findarticles.com/cf_0/m2248/n130_v33/21072036/p1/article.jhtml

Another good study here...go to the 2nd article on the page http://www.apa.org/releases/genderdif.html says guys with high intelligence had lower levels of depression and girls with high intelligence had higher levels of depression. I guess kind of the same thing with guys who go thru puberty sooner have higher self esteem and girls who develop sooner have lower self esteem. Anyhow, just type in high iq and depression on any search engine and I'm sure you will find more stuff.

On the other hand I don't think it is out of the realm of possibility to think that people with extremely high IQs, like you and your friend's, might be genetically predisposed to depression since the genes that help enable higher intelligence might also create a higher propensity for depression. However, I have absolutely nothing to back that up and I am just pretty much making up bull**** here.

However, speaking on what you were saying about having high expectations and stuff like that. I have experienced some disappointment with things because I do understand that I am in the upper .1% or .01% (I can't remember which it is, if I am off by a factor of 10 then oh well) of the population intelligence-wise, but I am probably in the bottom half of the population with my motivation to do school work and academic stuff. I am probably overstating things there, but I feel like I don't do near as much as I could academically. Additionally, I am not motivated by career or things like that, so when I graduate from college in about a month I have no ******* clue what I want to do. I have been trying to figure that out for the past 3 years after I left engineering. At the same time I want to be a success and I want to be rich and I know that I have the intelligence to do whatever I want to do, but I feel like I am not utilizing all the talents I have been blessed with and it does disappoint me somewhat. To sum it up simply, I feel like I am not fulfilling my potential, which is what I am guessing you and your friend are feeling.

So I guess what I would say to that is do what makes you happy. You are linking success to happiness and that just isn't the case. Successful people aren't always happy and happy people aren't always successful. Also, having a lot of intelligence doesn't mean you will fulfill your expectations. You have to have a great work ethic and I am gonna guess that you are lacking that too or you feel you are lacking that is a better way to say it. And I am just talking out of my ass now, but I think this might be linked to your depression

I never had any problem with that, nor did any of my friends. I got picked on because I had low self esteem and I went through crap in my life, but not because of my intelligence. None of my friends who were smarter than me got picked on because they were super smart either. Ok well...I have rambled on for too long and I am probably not making much sense anymore...so tell me what you think

 

That is a very low SAT score for such a high IQ.

That score is lower than the median score at a huge state school like UT.

 

Rezdawg...I dunno how accurate this chart is but go look at it http://www.surfonby.com/iq.html Scroll down a bit and you will see the IQ distribution chart. Bobby Fischer's was around 99.999995%, CndDrr's is around 99.99997%, and Fatty's is only around 99.9994%. Rez me and you are stupid since we are at 99.4% and 99.91%. But who really cares about IQ...its work ethic that makes people succeed.

 

TJ...he gave up school at 14. And a high SAT score doesn't mean high intelligence. Scholastic Aptitude Test.

 

Just like IQ tests have nothing to do with intelligence. IQ tests are worthless, especially since so many are so different - even more serious ones like MENSA's (but even they do not judge by score). Thus, depending on which you take, you could result anywhere from 95 to 275 (obviously, I am exaggerating).

People who put too much stock in such things (just like the SAT) are generally missing something in their lives.

 

I'm stunned to find so many super high-IQ geniuses wasting their time on a basketball bbs. Hey Einsteins, why not use your massive brains to help solve the world's problems (as opposed to figuring out how to post more cheesecake shots of Heather Thomas in a bikini).

 

That sounds a lot like work.

 

I have already planned on inventing something, but I just need to find a problem...

 

That is something else I meant say...intelligence tests don't judge all aspects of intelligence.

 

I haven't had a professionally administered IQ test since I was 7, I did well at the time and have done well on informal internet IQ tests as well but I really don't think that means much.

But as to the link between intelligence and depression, a number of my friends and I graduated from top universities and did very well at them - a practical sign of intelligence, I should say. Some of these friends struggle with depression, many don't. So I don't think they are inextricably linked. I hope that is some encouragement.

 

Wasn't it your husband who posted some of the nicest ones ...