Not every one of us achieves happiness and contentment. For some of us, people feel they get deprived of the idea that good things are not for them. In unfortunate instances, some individuals do not have food on the table. Some are uneducated, and some do not have shelter. But for those intelligent people, they can have all the great things in life. However, there is still a sense of sadness and loneliness. Why is that? How is these individuals’ intelligence affect their mental health?
The Reasons
• One of the reasons why intelligent people have a mental illness is due to their constant over analyzation. Most of them overthink every aspect of their lives. That includes the subject didn’t entirely matter at all. Yes, these people’s analytical nature is a significant asset to understand and discover things. However, its constant use leads to exhaustion and frustration. Indeed it is a positive trait. But most intelligent individuals carry it on a different level. In some unfortunate cases, these people even try to think through timeless dilemmas that pretty much does not have solutions. That is the reason every time they fail to figure things out, the less satisfied they become.
Dr. David Z. Hambrick, PhD., says being high intelligence is associated with overexcitability defined as “an unusually intense reaction to an environmental threat or insult. It includes anything from a startling sound to confrontation with another person.”
• Another reason that makes intelligent people lose control over their mental health is due to their high standards. With their mentality to hold things in their lives accordingly, the failure to do so becomes a lifelong agony. With that, they engage and focus more on disappointments instead of thanking small better results. Be it with their relationship, career, and even skills and talents. Most of the times, these intelligent individuals have unrealistic goals. So if it fails, they begin to lose all the motivation to continue moving forward. These people believe that since they are smart, they can handle things. But when they can’t, they breakdown and cry.
According to Dr. Marty Nemko, PhD., is that “intelligent people are expected to make a big difference in the world. Lest they choose a less ambitious career, they’re often denigrated as “not living up to their potential.””
• The most impactful thing that most intelligent individuals do, which damages their mental health is their constant self-criticism. They often judge themselves based on the things they can’t do, rather than complementing with what they can. For these people, they find it no excuse to have small counts of shortcomings. With that type of mentality, intelligent people no longer feel happy. That is also the reason why a lot of them are often finding fault with other people. They don’t try to consider things around because they can’t even consider themselves. There is always a set back from the past, where they try to resolve matters. These include checking on the poor decisions and wrong choices they made. So when everything feels like an unfinished moment, they get anxious and depressed.
Dr. Alice Boyes, PhD., adds “very smart people sometimes see their success as inevitable because of their intellect, and don’t see other skills as important.” The reason is that “most people have a natural bias towards wanting to capitalize on their strengths and, conversely, would prefer to avoid thinking about areas in which they’re not naturally as strong.”
Most intelligent people do not understand the importance of forgiving themselves. They don’t allow themselves to set loose. They often blame themselves for the things they can’t handle, and sometimes resolves the issue with self-judgment. Honestly, compared to those people who have nothing, these intelligent individuals suffer more mental and emotional dilemma but couldn’t see it. To further learn more about it, you can check out BetterHelp.com. They offer great articles on their LinkedIn page and some amazing posts on their Facebook as well.