Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Do you think that more intelligent people…

118 replies

ellencan · 20/10/2023 07:32

are generally of lower mood, depressive tendencies etc?

OP posts:
FannyBawz · 20/10/2023 07:58

Intelligent people tend to overthink, my husband is a classic example. But his mood is always up and happy. He’s just neurotic. 🙄

I am a frivolous bimbo however and never worry about my mortality etc etc. I’m basically like SpongeBob and long May that last! I literally only worry about my children. Existential crises aren’t my bag.

Lumins · 20/10/2023 08:04

Existential depression, yes absolutely.

DinnaeFashYersel · 20/10/2023 08:05

hollyblueivy · 20/10/2023 07:33

I think depression does not discriminate against intelligence or wealth- it can get anyone.

This 100%

dressedforcomfort · 20/10/2023 08:06

Nope. Depression etc doesn't discriminate.

PumpkinsAndCoconuts · 20/10/2023 08:07

As far as I know there’s data that may point in either direction.

And we must obviously also consider the issue of correlation vs. causation.

The (human) brain is incredibly complex and there is so much that we still don’t know.

All answers to this question therefore seem like (potentially very educated and well informed) guesses to me. At least currently.

PumpkinsAndCoconuts · 20/10/2023 08:10

Ps: I personally don’t think so, no.

Biasquia · 20/10/2023 08:11

Yes I think that is a thing isn’t it? Especially for deep thinkers.

dressedforcomfort · 20/10/2023 08:12

I think there is depression, then there is "shit life syndrome" which presents like depression. Your less likely to get "shit life syndrome" if your intelligent, but depression can get anybody.

I think there's some truth to this. If you are struggling to put food on the table and keep a roof over your head then you have circumstances that can easily lead to depression - but it's not as straightforward as saying low intelligence = poor mental health. Correlation doesn't imply causation etc.

WhatNoRaisins · 20/10/2023 08:14

Some people make themselves more miserable by overthinking everything but I don't think that's a sign of intelligence.

EatYourVegetables · 20/10/2023 08:16

.

Original poster
ellencan · 20/10/2023 08:17

I don’t mean clinical depression!

I mean lower moods, quite bleak outlook etc.

I know clinical depression is an illness that can affect anyone.

OP posts:
theduchessofspork · 20/10/2023 08:18

No!

Pollyputhekettleon · 20/10/2023 08:22

ellencan · 20/10/2023 08:17

I don’t mean clinical depression!

I mean lower moods, quite bleak outlook etc.

I know clinical depression is an illness that can affect anyone.

It can affect anyone, but it's less like to affect those of higher socioeconomic status. SES in turn of course correlates with intelligence.

Spendonsend · 20/10/2023 08:23

I think there are probably a lot of intelligent people who are well rewarded by the school system, as in they do well in exams and get a lot of praise for that, and actually enjoy learning, who find the workplace and general life less rewarding.

Fireisland · 20/10/2023 08:23

Yes, definitely.

BeethovenNinth · 20/10/2023 08:25

I think existential depression in the form of neuroticism does often correlate with intelligence of a certain type, yes

I think less intelligent people can be more content with their lot and see situations differently.

CurlewKate · 20/10/2023 08:26

No. But I do think that generally more privileged people are more likely to get help, diagnosis and sympathy, when more disadvantaged people are more likely to be ignored or get accusations of laziness, lack of organisation and possibly substance abuse

NunsKnickers · 20/10/2023 08:26

No

I'm very intelligent and very happy.

😁

Dymaxion · 20/10/2023 08:30

How are you defining 'more intelligent' ?

KissTheRains · 20/10/2023 08:35

Based on pure anecdotal evidence of people I've known, lived with, worked with etc.

The old adage of ignorance is bliss seems true.

Massively generalising and speaking VERY broadly:

The 'intelligent' people kept up with the news, politics, inflation, interest rates etc. They'd be able to tell you about what country had attacked whom and what the BOE had set interest at and what it meant for affording food.

The 'not as intelligent' didn't know anything of what was happening in the world or anything of politics or price rises etc but they could tell you who was voted out of the latest singing show or who was number 1 in the charts or the latest footy scores.

I wouldn't say the intelligent were depressed or sad or down, I'd say they were more realists and possibly a little more cynical and wary of what's coming.

The 'not so intelligent' seemed overall just happier, more upbeat and shrugged things off a lot easier and lived a bit more in the 'now'

But, obviously that's not true for everyone, just speaking in broad terms of people I've known etc.

Dymaxion · 20/10/2023 08:39

I mean lower moods, quite bleak outlook etc.

So intelligent people are more likely to be pessimists, is that what you mean ?

Biasquia · 20/10/2023 08:41

Somebody upthread wrote about shit life syndrome. Sinead O’Connor spoke widely about this, she had a shit early life and then mostly unworkable relationships after, her responses were absolutely normal for what she had experienced and learned from those experiences, that is to say that most people would experience significantly negative emotions around those kinds of experiences. To me that is different from an existential depression at least.

Lumins · 20/10/2023 08:41

I'm not particularly intelligent but I overthink. For example, there's 100 billion stars in the Milky Way, 200 billion galaxies in the observable universe. Where did it come from, why is it here, what else is going on out there. Is there anything at the bottom of a black hole? When did consciousness come to be, at what point did it spark? We can only see a fraction of what is going on around us. What happens when we die? etc etc etc

I drive myself to depressive thinking because everything seems so pointless. Plus I'll likely never get an answer to any of my questions, I find that depressing. I'm not clinically depressed.

unlimiteddilutingjuice · 20/10/2023 08:41

It can affect anyone, but it's less like to affect those of higher socioeconomic status. SES in turn of course correlates with intelligence

Just an anecdote but I have heard people suggest that the more intelligent people within lower SES groups are more prone to depression.

I used to work with a fantastic guy. Ex mining engineer. NUM official through the strikes and subsequent deindustrialisation of the 1980s. Later a Welfare Rights advisor, which is where I met him.
So, he really had a front row seat for the economic destruction of his community and the heroin crisis that followed.

He told me that the first generation of junkies were the intelligent, sensitive kids.

Guys who, in his generation, would have been shop stewards. Maybe gone on to higher education at Ruskin College. Maybe become a big shout in local politics. Obviously, he recognised something of himself in them.

The way he put it was "We lost a generation of leaders" He said it was because they were too sensitive to what was going on around them and they couldn't cope with it.

I was very struck by that because it was the first time anyone had made me think about addicted people in such a positive light.

I don't know if it's specific to that particular set of (quite extreme) circumstances or if it's generally true.