Intelligent people at reduced risk of mental illness

[deadparrot]

A recent study by psychiatrists from the Cambridge University suggests that people with a higher IQ are less likely to suffer from severe mental illness. The research shows that disorders such as depression and schizophrenia have lesser impact on intelligent people.

"It has been known for some time that intelligence can protect you against dementia and the consequences of head injury," the Daily Mail quoted a university spokeswoman, as saying.

"However...researchers at the University of Cambridge's Department of Psychiatry have discovered that intelligence can also buffer the consequences of neuropsychiatry disorders such as schizophrenia. They have demonstrated that the symptoms of schizophrenia are less severe and the ability to function in daily living is better for those with a higher IQ."

She said the study found evidence that "cognitive reserve intelligence made people more resilient.

http://news.webindia123.com/news/articles/World/20060417/308570.html

[SKKY]

1. Whew!!!! I'm safe then!!!!

[tridim]

2. So I guess ignorance is NOT bliss n/t

[ChairmanAgnostic]

4. Why do you hate America so much?

IN some states, I personally know more than a few people who scoff at education, intelligence or worse, both. Indiana, Florida, Texas, Georgia, just to name a few.

[0007]

9. Does intelligence have anything to do with ignorance?

I don't think so!

[tridim]

13. I had the same thought as I was posting that

But in general, smart people choose to be informed and dumb people choose to be ignorant.

[0007]

16. A person can have a high I.Q. and be ignorant. Has nothing to do

with dumb people and choice.
Ignorance is the condition of being uneducated, unaware, or uninformed.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

15. to some extent. Willful ignorance is due to lack of intelligence

a lack of knowledge or information is another matter completely. I am totally ignorant of the math and science behind string theory or the latest GUT which would combine gravitational forces, quantum physics, electromagnetic forces, etc. But, I am willing to read and try to learn it. That makes me ignorant but hungry for data.
opening up a fairy tale, adding up generations of named characters, and deciding that the universe is 6,012 yrs old and cannot be questioned, well, that is willful ignorance.

[MidwestTransplant]

10. Ha ha good one.

[Beacho]

3. I would've thought that it would be the opposite

Thinking of 'The Brahmins Lament' form the tales OF Zadig.

[smirkymonkey]

8. I think intelligent people might be MORE prone to depression,

however.

[Demeter]

14. Especially in This Year of Our Lord Bush!

[GOPFighter]

5. Hot Damn

That means the Freepers should be burning out soon!

[Ezlivin]

6. But it's the stupid people around them that drive them crazy

If you are intelligent the fact that Bush is president is very, very disturbing.

[rfranklin]

7. Then again, I know some Phi Beta Kappas who have had lifelong...

issues with mental illness. Actually, during the 60's we were enamored of some famous psychiatrist who glamorized schizophrenia as some kind of artistic expression. on edit: Ronald Laing, "The Politics of Experience"

[slackmaster]

11. Makes perfect sense to me

When the voices start to bother me, I send them off on some kind of wild goose chase.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

12. I don't see that verified in my line of work

I teach kids with IQ's of 130+. The higher the IQ goes, I have noticed, the squirrelier the child is. I have quite a few children with bipolar disorder, major depression, OCD, panic disorder, etc.

[AlienGirl]

17. Anecdotally, that's how it's been with lots of people I know

I used to have a good friend who had an IQ of 190, the one time it was professionally tested, while he was on Haldol. He had agitated depression and some OCD symptoms, and could get viscious when he was in a "low." (That's how it happens that we are no longer friends, unfortunately.) Another person I know tests around 170 and has depression and some psychosis (I really think the right diagnosis would be schizoaffective disorder, but it's not been diagnosed as that). And so on. The really lucky ones are usually what psychologist Alice Sheldon dubbed the "fortunate 140s," people whose IQ is higher than average but not by too much.

Tucker

[Spinzonner]

27. I'd say your IQ classifications are inflated

Numbers like 170 and near 200 are highly suspect. Those are super geniuses.

And 140 is hardly 'not by too much' higher than average. It's considerably above average.

[rinsd]

18. Being intelligent can help you cope with head injuries???

Does that make any sense?

[Imperialism Inc.]

19. Sure, sure it does.

Sit down young man and let me explain the finer points of...:banghead:.... umm , errr ,what was I saying?

[wickerwoman]

26. It's a use it or lose it kind of thing.

People who constantly challenge themselves mentally and are always learning new things tend to have higher IQ's because they've developed more neural pathways. They also have a larger and faster blood flow to the brain (just like people who exercise have a smaller chance of having a heart-attack and have fewer complications when they do.) If you damage part of your brain, people who have developed their brains more can develop more pathways faster to compensate for any damage.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

20. Sounds like someone's trying to resurrect eugenics,....

...the "science" of the wealthy and all-powerful.

[AlienGirl]

21. It's been poking its nose into the tent for a while now

[MrPrax]

22. I think the general application

of this study as well as others dealing with Alzheimer's is essentially you should keep your mind challenged and engaged.

I believe intelligence, or what we call it, can be improved in the same way you can improve your body--you must work at it.

You must actually read (non-fiction primarily), do 'math and word games' like crosswords, chess or Scrabble, pursue a hobby or a project that is heavy on concentration, taxonomies and memory like birdwatching, oragami et. al., mental tricks when you have down times, avoid televsion and develop listening cognitive skills through radio/some audio books/lectures--even planning out your tasks in a formal way will get that old Bean charged up.

My two lousy cents...

[Solon]

23. Actually, what you say actually makes sense...

The brain is malleable, certain parts that are for analytical processing or pattern recognition can fall into disuse, almost atrophy, so to speak, to get with the body metaphor, and needs "exercise" to get back up to tip top shape. Just like the real body, this takes repetition and time so you can get back up to speed. Who knows what the beneficial side effects are, but a little intellectual stimulation never hurt anyone.

[anotherdrew]

24. maybe normally, but not over the last 5 years of bush hell. n/t

[depakid]

25. Misleading headline

That should read:

Intelligent people at reduced risk from mental illness.

[Ecumenist]

28. Well, that explains bush. eom

[BiggJawn]

29. Under normal conditions, perhaps.

I'm having a lot of trouble coping with the horror that is Life under Bush. I refuse to drink the Kool-Aid, I constantly have "WTF???" moments, all reactions I don't see in the blissful, soopa-sized Wal-Mart Nation.

What I'm saying is if you're not feeling like everything is going fucking nuts and off the spool, then you must be a moran.

[noonwitch]

30. One study, out of thousands

I'm not totally discounting the study, but there are so many possible factors that contribute to mental illness that I really don't think intelligence is necessarily the most important of them. After all, people without serious mental disorders are more likely to achieve a higher test score on the Weschler, because they have nothing distracting them from the task at hand.

There's biological factors, environmental factors, and the effects of traumatic events in one's life to consider, also. People with disassociative disorder, for example, were pretty much victims of sadistic abuse as children. There's really not any other cause of it. People with bi-polar have a chemical imbalance that has nothing to do with their IQ. People who have high levels of lead in their system frequently have brain damage from it, and have mental health symptoms that need to be treated, too. Lead also affects intelligence, and adults can be exposed to it.

If you were able to read the social history of your average schizophrenic, you would likely find a long history of stressors that may or may not have contributed to the illness, things like having certain diseases in early childhood (like meningitis), being abused by adults physically or sexually, having distant parents who do not emotionally involve themselves with their children, exposure to chemicals via pollution, and who knows what else.

[Megahurtz]

31. There goes my Genius/Borderline-Insanity claim.

:silly: