The correlation between mental health disorders and IQ

Here’s a link regarding the connection between creativity and mental health...
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...1001061055.htm

Honestly, from what I recall of my psychopathology coursework years ago, most patients we worked with presented with below-average intelligence. There were certainly a few outliers with above-average IQs, though.
Regardless, the correlation isn't straightforward. It almost certainly depends on the specific diagnosis you're looking at.
There is a massive difference between someone dealing with depression or anxiety—disorders where they remain largely grounded in reality—and someone living with Schizophrenia, where that contact with reality is fundamentally broken by delusions and hallucinations.
Furthermore, those clinical diagnoses are much more "exact." We have a relatively clear grasp of the underlying physiological mechanisms. Intelligence, however, remains a fuzzy concept. It is far more of a hypothetical construct than many mental illnesses, such as Schizophrenia.

I’ve got someone in my family who is, frankly, terrifyingly brilliant..
Back when they were just a kid, some psychologist told my mother she had to walk on eggshells, basically, because kids with that kind of intellect are supposedly prone to mental health issues. From what I gather, there's this supposed link between childhood geniuses and later psychological struggles..
But look, if you look at the stats, about 60% of the population could potentially develop Schizophrenia.. it really just comes down to whether some life-altering event hits them hard enough to trigger it 😢

Jerry Moore2 said:I have someone in my family who is incredibly brilliant...
Back when they were just a kid, a psychologist told my mom she had to be extremely careful how she raised them because kids with that kind of intellect are prone to mental health issues. Basically, from what I gather, there's this link between being a genius as a child and developing psychological problems later on.

Oh, you're such a genius, aren't you? 🙏 🙏

The way I see it, these people act like kids who pick up on tiny details and resonate on a much higher frequency than your average brat. They’re usually obsessed with one specific thing—totally fixated—while everything else just becomes background noise. Because of that, they're pretty useless at navigating "normal" daily life... they end up being a total burden on everyone around them
with their extreme knowledge and weirdly intense interests. That's why they struggle to fit in socially. They're almost always loners.

So, apparently, there’s proof that people living with Schizophrenia actually have a higher average IQ than the rest of us. Which basically means if you're dealing with this "malicious" illness, you might actually have a better shot at being on the smarter side of things...

I mean, we haven't really seen enough studies on other disorders to say for sure if psychiatric patients in general have a higher chance of having a massive IQ or whatever.

But I guess you could argue that someone who’s more sensitive to all the "sins" of the modern world—someone whose senses are just dialed up way too high to all the "noise and visuals," you know, like someone struggling with anxiety—might end up with a higher IQ than the average person out there...

Though, you gotta be careful with that line of thinking... because having a higher IQ in "potential psych cases" can sometimes JUST act as a catalyst that makes a disorder or an illness show up even faster.

So, if I recall correctly, I read somewhere that highly intelligent people sit about 30% above the average IQ—you know, where the bell curve starts separating from the rest of the crowd...
There’s this old theory floating around that being smarter on average just makes you more miserable. It's because you're stuck in a sea of people who don't quite get it, so finding someone actually worth talking to becomes a nightmare, or you start noticing all these tiny, annoying nuances in people's characters that everyone else just misses...

Which means, I guess, we could probably ask if being smarter actually leads to higher rates of depression...

Then again, there's this whole cluster of psychological issues that I’d personally label as just "immaturity"... things like kleptomania, certain sexual dysfunctions, and stuff like that...
In my layman's view, I don't think highly intelligent people would deal with those kinds of issues more often; if anything, they'd probably have fewer of them...

So, what kind of illnesses are we even looking for when it comes to the smart crowd?

Kyle Nelson2 said:So, from what I recall reading somewhere, intelligent people tend to be about 30% sharper than the average person (though there’s obviously a spectrum involving those with cognitive impairments)....
There's this old theory that higher intelligence often leads to more unhappiness because you're constantly surrounded by people who just don't get it. It makes finding a decent conversationalist nearly impossible, and you start noticing subtle character flaws in others that everyone else completely misses.

Which basically opens up the question: are smarter people more prone to depression?

Then again, we have a whole category of psychological issues that I’d personally label as "immaturity"—things like kleptomania, various sexual dysfunctions, and so on...
In my non-expert opinion, highly intelligent people probably wouldn't show a higher rate of those specific issues; if anything, they might have fewer.

So, what kind of ailments should we actually be looking for in high-IQ individuals?

🤔

Kyle Nelson2 said:So, from what I can recall, I read somewhere that highly intelligent people are about 30% smarter than the average person (there’s usually a gap there compared to the idiots)....
It’s an old theory—that being smarter generally means you're more miserable because you're stuck surrounded by people who just don't get it. It makes finding someone actually worth talking to a nightmare, plus you notice way more subtle flaws in people that everyone else just ignores...

Which basically leads to the question: are smart people more prone to depression?

Then again, we have this whole category of psychological issues that I’d personally just call "immaturity"... things like kleptomania, sexual dysfunctions, stuff like that...
If I had to guess—and I know I'm no expert here—I'd say smarter people probably deal with fewer of those specific issues, not more...

So, if that's the case, what kind of illnesses should we actually be looking for in high-IQ individuals?

That’s a really sharp observation, Kyle Nelson2 👍

Kyle Nelson2 said:Look, from what I remember reading somewhere, intelligent people are roughly 30% smarter than the average Joe (there’s usually some kind of bell curve involved, including the outliers)....
It’s this old theory that being smarter actually makes you more miserable because you’re constantly surrounded by people who just don't get it. You struggle to find someone worth talking to, you pick up on subtle character flaws that everyone else misses, and so on.

So, maybe the real question is whether high intelligence leads to higher rates of depression....

Then again, there's a whole category of psychological issues that I’d personally just call "immaturity"... things like kleptomania, certain sexual dysfunctions, stuff like that...
In my amateur opinion, smarter people probably wouldn't deal with those kinds of issues more often—if anything, they'd have fewer of them...

So, what kind of illnesses are we even looking for in highly intelligent people?

Are you trying to say that smart people are all psychopaths?

Look, I think someone totally misread what I was getting at, obviously 😢

In my opinion, smarter people tend to experience a much wider spectrum of emotions—you know, more subtle gradations between them. That’s a quality in itself, but it also comes with some serious risks...
So, I guess they might be easier to hurt, but then again, if they’re actually more intelligent, they should theoretically handle the fallout better...

The only way I've found to categorize intelligence that actually makes sense is:
- intrapersonal (understanding your own headspace, emotional intelligence)
- interpersonal (social intelligence)
- mathematical/logical (the stuff that usually gets tested... you know, Walter Myers4, those little circles and squares you were filling out yesterday 😉 )
- verbal
- mechanical/spatial

There are more categories, too, but I've already forgotten the rest of them..
Personally, I don't think anyone actually develops every single type of intelligence. Still, having only one developed is a huge handicap; you really need at least two to get by

The big shot said:says:
It’s been proven that people with Schizophrenia actually have a higher average IQ than the rest of the population. So, someone dealing with this "malicious" illness might actually have a better chance at having a higher IQ...

There haven't been enough studies done on other disorders to claim whether psychiatric patients generally have a higher chance of having a higher IQ.

But I’d guess that someone who's more sensitive to the "sins" of the modern world, or has a sharper sense of all the "noise and visuals"—basically someone with anxiety—might also have a higher average IQ than the general public...

Still, you have to be careful... Because a higher IQ in "potential psych cases" can often JUST serve to trigger a mental disorder or illness.

Actually, research has shown that, on average, those with Schizophrenia have a lower IQ.
For other illnesses, there hasn't really been a significant difference compared to the general population.
There are some exceptions, though; for instance, some studies suggest that people with anorexia and bulimia tend to have a higher IQ.

Regarding the idea that highly intelligent people are less social because they struggle to find peers or experience more intense emotions... to me, that sounds more like a potential personality disorder. Maybe borderline or narcissism? I honestly can't recall all the specific clinical terms or the exact diagnostic criteria required.
As someone else mentioned earlier, intelligence is such an elusive concept to define, which makes it difficult to draw direct correlations. Plus, we all know there are countless different ways to measure it through various testing methods.
Anyway, I won't ramble on too long, but back when I was in college, there was even a theory that psychologists essentially invented the concept of intelligence just to give themselves something to study.🙂Sometimes I suspect that might actually be the case, xexexexex 😁

rustyfalcon52 said:regarding the idea... that they're smarter and less social because they can't find anyone worth talking to, have a wider range of emotions, blah blah... to me, all of that sounds like a potential personality disorder, maybe borderline? narcissism? I don't even remember the specific psychopathology terms or what criteria actually need to be met anymore.
intelligence is such a hard concept to define, so I guess that’s why linking it to anything else is so difficult. plus, we all know there are tons of different IQ tests out there... anyway, not to ramble, but back when I was in college, there were even theories that psychologists basically invented the whole concept of intelligence just so they’d have something to do with their lives.🙂 sometimes I really think that's exactly what happened, xexexexex 😁

How "hard" is it to define?
Look, you don't even need some formal testing to see it. It's obvious when one person can breeze through a mess of problems while the rest of the group is still struggling to grasp the very first step..

It doesn't matter if the person is 'gifted' in spatial reasoning, social dynamics, or art—it's very
easy to spot that massive gap between them and everyone else..

Basically, these people are more invested in a specific subject or area of life than most, giving them the capacity to dive way deeper into their interests than the average person could ever manage..

People like that don't fit into society's little boxes because their internal logic is constantly shifting. They follow their own rules, so the world around them often fails to understand or accept them simply because they aren't like the masses we run into every day.

So, we label them as weirdos, loners, geniuses, or just boring bores... whatever. In the end, they only ever find a tiny handful of people who actually get them. Society doesn't validate them, and that lack of validation breeds anxiety and isolation, which eventually opens the door to mental health issues..
Humans are social animals; we aren't meant to be solo acts. We need to be part of a community and respect social norms..
But most of the "types" described above just can't stomach those norms. They don't care about other people's rules, or they don't see any reason to follow them. And that's where the conflict we're discussing actually starts..

Here’s a perfect example from everyday life:

Imagine a company hires this absolute powerhouse of an employee. But the "company" knows right off the bat they're dealing with a total outlier—someone who basically breathes, eats, and sleeps their work. This person can deliver flawless results and optimize business processes worth billions of dollars, but only if they aren't micromanaged with strict hours. They need that flexible schedule... that total freedom to just execute.

Everything is great while this person is being challenged, crushing it, and delivering insane results. The owners are raking it in, and the individual is happy because they actually have room to climb their own invisible ladder.

But then comes the inevitable. That moment when the person gets bored, hits the ceiling, and realizes there's nowhere left to go. No more intellectual hurdles, no more mysteries—they know the job inside and out, like the back of their hand.

Logically, this person should jump into a whole new world, something they haven't explored yet... somewhere they can start climbing again and put that "mind" to a fresh set of challenges.

In the real world, though? It rarely works that way. Instead, you get some middle-manager type who acts like a damn robot. They don't get that society isn't advanced by cookie-cutter drones, but by geniuses. So, this little manager tries to lecture our person, telling them they aren't special after all, demanding they stick to a rigid 9-to-5 grind and follow every single corporate rule blindly.

Heh, and that’s where the wheels fall off. People like that can't handle routine. Routine is a slow death for creativity. And honestly, since the dawn of time, geniuses have been at war with societal rules.😁
If this specific person doesn't get out of that environment, they're going to feel like they're rotting in prison. For people like this, "playing by the rules" is harder than scaling the Himalayas.

On the flip side, geniuses usually suck at navigating social politics. Because of that, the situation described above can end in a total disaster for the genius.😢

rustyfalcon52 said:regarding the idea... that they're smarter and less socialized,

Sure, maybe. But I don't think it's because they're smart. It's more like some kind of disorder, right?😉

Walter Myers4 said:Maybe. But it's not like they lack social skills just because they're smart. It’s more like some kind of disorder or something, right?😉

I'm going to have to disagree with you there.
They’re just antisocial. Honestly. It’s because they’re bored, or maybe they just find talking to people around them totally uninspiring. They don't see any point in it. Like, what's the payoff? There’s nothing left for them to learn from regular human interaction. Total waste of time.
Look, we’re not talking about some kind of disorder here. It’s not a diagnosis. It’s just a matter of having a specific area of interest—or maybe just failing to fit into the standard, cookie-cutter daily grind.

Jerry Moore2 said:'not fitting into the standard mold'

Oh, for sure. But in this country, people just treat it like some kind of broken glitch.
Like any time someone isn't just a cookie-cutter average, they act like something's wrong.

Jerry Moore2
I can usually tell when someone is genuinely sharp and adapts easily to any situation. However, if you want to conduct a proper investigation, you really need more than just one subject to study—you need multiple intelligent individuals to compare and draw parallels from. My own gut feeling of "this person seems smart" probably isn't enough for a serious analysis. Someone else might disagree, especially if they consider themselves even more capable, 😁
Ultimately, to actually research and make comparisons, you have to establish a clear definition of what intelligence even means in the first place!

Walter Myers4, I almost agree with you. Especially when dealing with exceptionally brilliant people, high intelligence often ends up being treated as if it were a disorder.

Look... intelligence isn't just some random concept someone made up for fun. There are tons of different cognitive abilities out there, and you can measure each one of them pretty precisely.
And from what I gather, professionals rarely just talk about "intelligence" anymore; they focus more on specific types of cognitive skills.

Nowadays, there are psychological assessment procedures where you can measure every single one of those traits. All the current intelligence tests are designed to capture the full spectrum—from the highest levels to the lowest. The examiner doesn't even need to be some kind of genius to spot a high IQ; they just hand over the test and then compare the results against the scoring key on their sheet.😉

The only field where the other person actually needs to be at a certain level is psychoanalysis. A psychiatrist—specifically a psychoanalyst, which is a subspecialty—has to undergo long-term psychoanalysis themselves, on top of their formal education, just to be able to do their job properly.

It’s always so easy for people to label intelligent folks they don't understand as having personality disorders, narcissism, and all that crap. But to me, that just feels like a sign of limited vision—of the observer, not the person being observed. It’s an outright refusal to accept that there are ways of thinking, patterns of behavior, and motives that are simply different from our own...
Just to remind everyone, it was because of those exact same attitudes toward "difference" that we wiped out Native Americans, the Accenture, Aboriginals, and all sorts of other cultures we deemed... less valuable...

Personally, I think we really need to work on developing a culture of respecting diversity. And after that, maybe we can learn to respect the people who have actually made our society better, more advanced, and more beautiful through their intellect and talent... and maybe ask ourselves why those people were almost always isolated.
We could say Michelangelo had Asperger's, or that Tesla was an eccentric, but despite their intelligence, they often possessed a sense of nobility or empathy. To me, at least, those are the qualities that make certain people truly stand above the rest.

Kyle Nelson2 said:Look... intelligence isn't just some random concept pulled out of thin air—there are tons of different cognitive abilities, and you can actually measure each one quite precisely.
In professional circles (as far as I know), people rarely talk about "intelligence" as a single thing; they usually focus on specific types of cognitive skills.

Nowadays, we have psychological testing procedures where you can measure any of these traits. Modern IQ tests are designed to capture the full spectrum—from the absolute highest levels to the lowest—so the examiner doesn't need to be some super-genius themselves. They just administer the test and compare the results against the standard scoring sheets. 😉

The only area where you really need the other person to be at a certain level is psychoanalysis... a psychiatrist (specifically a psychoanalyst) actually has to undergo long-term analysis themselves—on top of their formal training—just to be able to do the job effectively.

It’s easy to write off highly intelligent people we don't understand as having personality disorders, narcissism, or whatever else... but to me, that feels like a limitation on our part—the observer's part. It's basically refusing to accept that there are ways of thinking, patterns of behavior, and motivations that are simply different from our own.
Just as a reminder, it was this exact kind of narrow-mindedness regarding "differences" that led us to wipe out Native Americans, the Aztecs, Aboriginal Australians, and all sorts of cultures we deemed... less valuable.

Personally, I think we need to foster a culture of respecting diversity—and after that, respecting those individuals who have made our society better, more advanced, and more beautiful through their intellect and talent. We should ask ourselves why these people have so often lived on the fringes of society.
We could say that Michelangelo had Asperger's, or that Tesla was an eccentric, but despite their quirks, they possessed a brilliance—and often a nobility or empathy—that makes them, at least in my eyes, truly exceptional human beings.

Wow, look at all these experts in the room.

I'd agree with the idea that intelligence generally leads to greater sensitivity and sharper perception—but it also provides the tools to manage that, essentially creating mechanisms to keep everything in balance.

- A wide range of interests.
- Noticing connections, patterns, and details that everyone else misses.
- That sense of bewilderment or frustration when others "just don't see" things... blah, blah.

Basically, intelligence can trigger deep existential crises—searching for answers to "who am I?" or "what is the world?"—while trying to define how we fit into our environment.

That doesn't mean an intelligent person has to follow every social norm, nor does it mean they'll handle intimate or personal challenges in a "standard" way. But it does mean that alongside those unique challenges, there is a STRONGER POTENTIAL for successfully navigating them—and for meaningful interaction.

To the OP: sorry if this isn't exactly a peer-reviewed academic paper. 😍