Let’s put the conclusion first: people with high IQ tend to have a higher probability of accompanying psychiatric and immune disorders, such as bipolar, anxiety, depression, ADHD, asthma and immune disorders.
In a study published last year in the journal INTELLIGENCE, the authors compared 3,715 members of the American Mensa Association with data from a U.S. national database to analyze whether there was a significant difference in the prevalence of the diseases studied among people with high IQs compared to the average.
The results showed that people with high IQ were 20% more likely to be diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), 80% more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD, 80% more likely to be diagnosed with anxiety disorders, and 182% more likely to have at least one mood disorder than the normal population.
In terms of physical illness, those with high IQ were 213% more likely to have environmental allergies, 108% more likely to have asthma, and 84% more likely to have autoimmune diseases.
In their paper, the researchers analyze that people with high IQs have a tendency to be “intellectually overexcited” and have a high sensitivity of the central nervous system. In a good way, this helps them to carry out creative and artistic work. However, this unusual high sensitivity and reactivity of the nervous system can also lead to deeper depression and mental health problems.
This is also true of poets, novelists and people with high verbal intelligence. Their strong emotional response to their environment increases the tendency to reflect and worry, both of which are manifestations of depression and anxiety disorders. The researchers further noted that excessive psychological reactions can affect the immune system. This is because people with overexcited nervous systems may have strong reactions to seemingly harmless external stimuli, such as annoying clothing labels or sounds. And this reaction can further turn into chronic stress, triggering an uncomfortable immune response.
When the body believes it is in danger (whether it is an objectively real toxin or an imagined annoying sound), it induces a cascade of physiological responses that activate a myriad of hormones, neurotransmitters and signaling molecules.
When these pathways are chronically activated, they can alter our bodies and brains and even lead to diseases such as asthma, allergies and autoimmune diseases. Previous literature has also confirmed that gifted children have a higher incidence of allergic diseases and asthma. One study showed that 44% of people with IQs over 160 suffered from allergies, compared to only 28% of their age-matched peers.
As a researcher in the field of multi-omics (genome, transcriptome, epigenome, proteome), although the current scientific research is still less able to provide scientific evidence that “people with higher IQ are more likely to suffer from mental illness” at the molecular mechanism level, I believe that from the genome to the epigenome, we should be able to provide scientific evidence that “people with higher IQ are more likely to suffer from mental illness”.
However, I believe that in the future, researchers will be able to provide more objective and accurate answers from the genome to the topology of epigenetic and 3D genomes to the interactions with the environment. I have also discussed in detail how to define and identify intelligence in a broad sense in another answer, so I will only list my views here, see the link for details. The true meaning of intelligence is not “alone”, let alone “proud”, but good at maximizing the use of existing knowledge and network resources, good at using limited time efficiently, and good at stopping losses.
