What causes intelligent people to feel so unhappy?

Highly intelligent people can often manage to secure themselves fulfilling careers and a loving, comfortable family life, and yet these individuals tend to suffer from bouts of sadness and even clinical depression and other serious metal disorders at a much higher rate than the general population. This a somewhat puzzling fact of life. Why do people with a natural aptitude for learning and successful activity often find themselves down in the doldrums?

One reason why highly intelligent individuals are prone to unhappiness is that they are prone to over-analysing situations that occur in their lives and the world around them. Too much analysis can be exhausting particularly when situations appear to be overwhelming pessimistic. Psychologists and counselors often advise their intelligent patients to try and switch off from the world around them instead of spending so much time dwelling on the problems of the world.

Another reason for depression among intelligent people is that they set incredibly high standards for themselves regarding their careers and relationships and even the somewhat trivial areas of their lives. When their actual lives fail to live up to their expectations, then they tend to take it incredibly hard. Part of the reason for this trend is that intelligent people tend to be very hard on themselves and attribute any short coming in their lives to their failures, no matter how insignificant they might be. This trend is aggravated by the fact that these individuals tend to seek exceptionalism in all facets of their lives even when it is simply impossible to achieve.

Intelligent people also suffer from a lack of meaningful support network. Even when highly intelligent individuals are part of a loving support network they often find it difficult to hold meaningful conversations or make themselves understood on the topics that matter to them as they are often far too difficult for people of average intelligence to comprehend properly. This can lead to feelings of isolation and loneliness.

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