Depression and Intelligence?

[Tyria]

Are intelligent people more prone to depression? Is there a correlation that exists between the two?

 

[Artifice Orisit]

Assuming that the development of a strong "T" aspect is detrimental to one's "F' aspect, then I suppose there could be.

 

[Sugarpop]

Assuming that the development of a strong "T" aspect is detrimental to one's "F' aspect, then I suppose there could be.

Depression = low F?

 

[walfin]

Shit I think there was something like this before The Outage.

This site claims that older smart people are more satisfied with life. Which might explain why nia and snow are happier than the rest of us .

And this one claims that intelligent people are LESS depressed.

Ah well. I always knew I wasn't very smart anyway.

And T/F isn't what's highly correlated with intelligence (as measured by IQ). S/N is.

 

[Beat Mango]

Well pessimists have been shown to be more realistic/accurate than optimists, so it would make sense in that regard.

 

[Artifice Orisit]

Depression = low F?

A possible deficiency in emotional intelligence/understanding.

e.g. a supposed stoic who screams out "I feel nothing", whilst in great pain.

 

[Seducer of the Homeless]

yes, certainly.

well, at least existential depression. the fact is intelligent people think more and about deeper subjects. they are less blinded to the truth than most of the dullards and thus see more-

and what they see is usually ugly

thus the depression


anyway, you already know that so....

 

[Agent Intellect]

i'd say intelligent people are more likely to be disillusioned, although perhaps not always depressed.

 

[ViS]

Ne != Intelligent
Ti != Intelligent
Ni != Intelligent
Te != Intelligent

 

[Vegard Pompey]

 

[Artifice Orisit]

Vegard, you forgot the caption: "Simpson's did it!" (meme from southpark)

 

[Enne]

Are intelligent people more prone to depression? Is there a correlation that exists between the two?

I've heard this, but only existential.

 

[Razare]

A possible deficiency in emotional intelligence/understanding.

e.g. a supposed stoic who screams out "I feel nothing", whilst in great pain.

I think this is it. I've been depressed but no one would have outwardly been able to discern it. I recognized my depression and did not display symptoms to others. I think intelligent people are more equipped to identify that they're depressed and pull themselves out of it proactively too.

So even if we're more prone to depression, which makes a lot of sense to me, we're less likely to show symptoms and are able to rid ourselves of it easier. Easier because if you don't have the knowledge to realize you're depressed, then it's unlikely you'll take any course of action that might change your depression.

 

[Snail]

I don't think it has to do with the T preference. It could be the IN__ combination, and if so, then yes, there is probably a correlation between depression and intelligence. IN__ types tend to have higher IQ's than E types or S types. They are also less common and therefore more likely to suffer from being misunderstood and excluded. I've read that INFP males are the most likely to commit suicide.

I used to be suicidally depressed. In my case, the F may have been at least partly responsible, since social ostracization and other problems related to my generalized anxiety disorder wouldn't have bothered me so much if I hadn't been so socially/emotionally dependent and desperate for acceptance from my peers. The introversion made it hard for me to find the courage to seek help, and being an idealist caused me to clash hard with most of the shrinks I tried.

 

[Toad]

Didn't we talk about this already?

 

[Tyria]

I'm not sure... I wanted to post it so I did. Sorry if it's a repost.

 

[Inappropriate Behavior]

This topic did sort of come up. It asked if INTPs are depression prone. This topic includes other types.

Intelligence leads often to existential crisis, sometimes it can lead to depression but as pointed out above (Ogion), with age comes acceptence of the absurdity of reality and you think your way out of depression.

Chemical depression is another thing entirely and to my knowledge has no correlation with levels of intelligence.

 

[Razare]

I've read that INFP males are the most likely to commit suicide.

I hang on the INFP forum and I totally believe this.

I commented on there that there was no other personality worse than the INFP if you're a male who does not play a cool instrument. No one disagreed with me either, which was kinda scary.

The INFP women all have this dreamy look in their eyes that's attractive for men, so they have it made. They just have to deal with their dissatisfaction from being lured into marriage with ST types.

 

[snowqueen]

Shit I think there was something like this before The Outage.

This site claims that older smart people are more satisfied with life. Which might explain why nia and snow are happier than the rest of us .

See I told you there was hope! In the long run I think intelligence helps you figure life out while those that don't think much get a horrible surprise when things aren't always easy.

 

[Da Blob]

There are a couple of threads concerning this topic, at least tangentially, buried somewhere in the archives, one was about suicide if I remember correctly (?).
However, to answer the Original Question there are few correlations between depression and any particular demographic. Both females and teenagers have high rates of prevalence though...

The problem with talking about Depression is that there are so many different types of depression. 95% of all people suffer from an episode of major Depression at least once in his or her life. At lot of Depressions has an organic cause, an imbalance of chemicals involved in the neurotransmitter/receptor exchange. This type of depression has little to do with personality or external environment. There are a multitude of prescribed drugs that are supposed to help with organic depressions, but a lot of pharmaceutical companies put out misleading propaganda concerning these drugs. There is still a mental battle that has to be fought and won to overcome depression even when on these drugs.

One common symptom of Depression is a disorientation as to Time and Place. Depressed persons simply do not spend much time in the "Here and Now". Adopting an existential philosophy can be a helpful means of therapy in this regard. There is also a relationship between depression and oppression, that is a little bit different for each person - seeing as oppression usually begins with an external source...

 

[hope]

I googled this a while ago...
http://mangans.blogspot.com/2006/01/iq-and-depression.html

I really doubt there's a link for chemical depression and intelligence, but there's probably a link between existential depression and intelligence.

 

[Toad]

So are we saying overall intelligence leads to depression or are just talking about NT's?

 

[Wisp]

Hmm.

Interesting question, and I think that the answer is yes. Or at least, partly.

It certainly effects certain types of depression. For example, the quintessential 'stupid' person will likely go through life for quite a while, and find a niche. But he'll have the proverbial feeling of unsatisfaction. And such a person would have no idea what it was, and would likely be medicated.

However, the 'smart' person, generally of the NT variety, tends to suffer from existentialism. Knowing too much, and all that jazz. The 'smart' person may suffer the 'ache' depression, but usually smarter people are more adept at finding out was is missing and being attentive in general. However, the smarter one becomes, the more acutely aware they become of their own meaninglessness. This causes the 'smart' person to spiral into a depression of a slightly darker variety.

Also, very smart people often think along abnormal mental lines. This causes them to be ostracized from society, which is a surefire way to fire off the human pack-animal depression centers.

So in short, yes, I think that intelligence is a direct function to depression. At the very least it has an effect.

 

[walfin]

I googled this a while ago...
http://mangans.blogspot.com/2006/01/...epression.html

Eh, I posted that first.

So are we saying overall intelligence leads to depression or are just talking about NT's?

INTPs always seem to conflate intelligence with NT-ness.


Just a little tangential point...perhaps depression is more linked to being an outlier. Intelligent people would be happier being with other intelligent people (deuce for less intelligent people).

 

[Ghost1986]

Are intelligent people more prone to depression? Is there a correlation that exists between the two?

I wrote a paper on sensory deprivation a couple years ago. One of my conclusions was that the more intelligent a creature, the more stress will affect it. A parrot will be affected more by being in a cage then a rabbit. Both may go insane but the bird is going first. With that said I would say the more intelligent you are will determine how bad the depression is. I do not think that simply being intelligent will make you depressed though. Likewise, your higher intelligence will increase your happiness when you are Happy.

 

[Perseus]

My observations are that the INFJ males seem to have the worst time of it. ENTP males can get very isolated and this could lead to suicide, unless they can rise above (introvert) unfortunate circumstances.

INTPs should avoid ISFP Cats under all circumstances. It is easy for me as I am adverse to them. But I found out the hard way.

 

[Anthile]

My observations are that the INFJ males seem to have the worst time of it.

Why exactly?

 

[Toad]

Does anyone know what the percentage of suicides are committed by introverts and what percentage are committed by extroverts? It would be interesting if E's committ suicide more because they can get lonlier much more easily.

 

[Waterstiller]

INFP's and INTP's seem to be capable of some incredible lows. The only people I've ever met who were as depressed as me are a couple INFP's I know. In particular.. INFP's with major gender issues.

There are soooo many INFP artists who've killed themselves. INTP's seem to be a tiny bit more resilient. Just a bit.

I think it has to do with one's capability to see 'the big picture'. The depth of comprehension seems to have more to do with it than 'thinking'. But I dunno.

 

[Perseus]

Freda Spirit he says. The mind is genderless. But the Horsemen ESFJ with their twisted logic will never see this.

 

[Ermine]

I think intelligence gives someone more capacity to be depressed, happy, or anything in between. Like Wisp said, less intelligent people tend to be happy in general, but they're also somehow dissatisfied and don't know why. They don't seem to experience too many extremes.

While I tend towards existentialism and can get really depressed at times, I always know what's going on and exactly why I'm depressed. Therefore, I never get the sense of long term hopelessness that's a big characteristic of clinical depression. Same goes for when I'm happy. When I'm happy, I'm really happy, and it's obvious why. Most of the time, I'm neutral though.

 

[LucielaMinerva]

Nah. Only stupid people get depressed. Emotionally stupid, that is.

Like me.

 

[Beat Mango]

Nah. Only stupid people get depressed. Emotionally stupid, that is.

Like me.

Karma for putting my ass in a blender!

 

[Invoke Ninja's True Power]

for the most pert intelligent people are depressed because they see things the way they really are, many get chastised for trying to do something about it by the optimists

 

[RobertJ]

I think my F is so low that I don't even have the capacity to feel depressed.

 

[walfin]

I think my F is so low that I don't even have the capacity to feel depressed.

But perhaps you're depressed and you don't know it?

 

[Jaico]

I think that there is a correlation between creativity (which could be a form of intelligence - after all, no great breakthroughs were created without creativity) and depression. Why? I remember reading something that linked rumination (excessive self-reflection/thinking) with depression; the basic premise was that rumination and introspection can lead to a lot of insights, and give great potential to intelligence and creativity. However, that same trait can also lead to depression (apparently), so it's sort of a tie-in that correlates both creativity and depression, as it were.

 

[LucielaMinerva]

Karma for putting my ass in a blender!

There's more of that blender where it came from...

 

[phantome]

my opinion is that intelligent people are more prone to depression because they see things as they are (for the most part) (sort of what ninja said) but that does not necessarily mean that if you're intelligent, you're going to be depressed.