Eggshell Therapy and Coaching is dedicated to supporting people with high sensitivity, giftedness, emotional intensity and other neurodivergent traits. Founded by Imi Lo, the organization’s mission is to support hypersensitive individuals on their journey from healing to thriving. This article will explore the link between high intelligence and incidence of mood and anxiety disorders.
Numerous studies suggest that individuals who score well on standardized intelligence tests are not only more successful academically and professionally but also tend to live longer, healthier lives. However, while these findings are incredibly encouraging, there are also some flipsides to having a high IQ, research suggests.
According to a paper recently published by the Intelligence journal, research by Ruth Karpinski and her colleagues at Pitzer College reveals that members of the high IQ society Mensa are more likely to be affected by a range of psychological disorders.
The survey covered various mental health problems, including attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism, anxiety disorders, and mood disorders like depression and bipolar. It also included data on environmental allergies, autoimmune disorders, and asthma. When asked whether they had ever been formally diagnosed with each condition or suspected they suffered from it, 75% of participants confirmed that they had. Karpinski and her team then compared the percentage who reported each disorder with the national average. They found that the biggest disparity between the Mensa group and the general population was in anxiety disorders and mood disorders.
20% of respondents reported an anxiety disorder and 26.7% reported that they had been diagnosed with a mood disorder. The researchers found that these statistics were far higher than the national average for both anxiety disorders and mood disorders, which both stand at around 10% each. In addition, the prevalence of environmental allergies was three times the national average in the Mensa group, at 33% versus 11% in the general population.
To explain their findings, the Pitzer College team put forward the hyper brain/hyper body theory, a concept that centers around the assumption that, for all of its advantages, a high level of intelligence is associated with physiological and psychological “overexcitabilities” (OEs). The concept was introduced in the 1960s by the Polish psychologist and psychiatrist Kazimierz Dabrowski, who submitted that an OE is an intense reaction to an “environmental threat or insult.” This could consist of anything from a startling sound to an altercation with another individual. Psychological OEs also include a predisposition to ruminating and worrying. Physiological OEs, on the other hand, arise from the body’s response to stress.
The hyper brain/hyper body theory suggests that OEs are experienced more frequently by highly intelligent individuals, with the OEs interacting with each other in a “vicious cycle” that can potentially result in both physiological and psychological dysfunction. The theory suggests that an individual with a high IQ is more inclined to overanalyze comments made by their boss, theorizing negative outcomes that someone less intelligent simply would not think of. That in turn may trigger the body’s stress response, rendering the individual more anxious still.
Experts caution that the results of the study by Ruth Karpinski and her team should be interpreted cautiously as they are correlational; establishing that a particular disorder is more common in the high IQ sample than the general population does not prove that intelligence is the cause of the condition. In reality, it seems perfectly feasible that Mensa members should differ from non-members in other ways in addition to IQ. After all, an individual who is preoccupied with intellectual pursuits will likely have less time for social interaction and physical exercise, both of which have been shown to have inherent benefits for both physical and psychological health.
