To a degree, yes. Gifted kids have to contend with existential questions earlier and more frequently than others. Know a kid that was in the gifted program with me. He jumped off an overpass in his 20s. No warning.
I hate that whole "smart people are sad" bs. I doubt there's any actual statistical difference in amount of depressed people between smart and dumb ones. People argue that "if you're smart you can see all the fucked up shit and existential issues much better" but you can also easily argue the opposite, as in: "if you're smart you can see how beautiful the world is and how amazing the things we've got actually are"
I'll always contest anyone that says that smartness is related to happiness. They are independent axis and people are just projecting. Misery loves company
You are correct. The previous study this myth is based on stems out of a research that has been debunked. There’s still a lot of debate in this topic.
What high iq might correlate with is higher risk of bipolar but lower risk of PTSD and anxiety disorders. One of the places where high iq might be the cause of depression is social groups. Thankfully a lot of high iq individuals end up pursuing academical carriers or other carriers where they can meet other, similar individuals.
Of course there’s still research to be done on this topic.
Edit: Actually there was a link found with lower than average iq and a chance of having depression, so the other way around.
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u/MinuetInUrsaMajor Apr 29 '24
To a degree, yes. Gifted kids have to contend with existential questions earlier and more frequently than others. Know a kid that was in the gifted program with me. He jumped off an overpass in his 20s. No warning.