The Link Between Intelligence and Addiction
Image Source: https://academiamag.com/how-to-improve-your-intelligence/
Addiction is something that I have written about quite a few times over the course of my tenure on Hive and Read.cash, but I have never tried to link it to anything from a scientific sense.
Last night, I went down an internet rabbit hole as I sometimes find myself doing. What was shocking about this one (for my standards) was that it was an educational rabbit hole rather than just a time killer.
I was curious when I was told that there is a link between intelligence and cognitive irregularities such as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, mood issues and more. Rather than causing these issues directly, a high level of intelligence has been cited as a risk factor for these issues.
A group known as MENSA (basically a group of people with high iq's) was polled for a scientific study and here are the results (https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/bad-news-for-the-highly-intelligent/):
The biggest differences between the Mensa group and the general population were seen for mood disorders and anxiety disorders. More than a quarter (26.7 percent) of the sample reported that they had been formally diagnosed with a mood disorder, while 20 percent reported an anxiety disorder—far higher than the national averages of around 10 percent for each. The differences were smaller, but still statistically significant and practically meaningful, for most of the other disorders. The prevalence of environmental allergies was triple the national average (33 percent vs. 11 percent).
It turns out that this link actually carries over to addiction of drugs, alcohol, gambling, sex, etc. People with high intelligence levels are in a sense victims of circumstance as society was built, by necessity, for the average intelligence level. This can cause those with high levels of intelligence to feel ostracized, feel the need for a challenge, get bored, feel frustrated, etc. This can lead to some poor decision-making to cope.
According to studies identified in this article (https://vertavahealth.com/blog/correlation-intelligence-addiction/) people with high IQ's were more likely to try psychoactive drugs and to do so at a younger age, thus increasing their propensity to develop a dependency on those drugs.
Some have cited the constant need to feel challenged or mentally stimulated as one of the reasons why people with high IQ's have a higher propensity for high-risk addictive behavior.
I have not yet reached conclusions on how these findings relate to me and the issues that I have experienced thus far in my life, but it is an interesting pathway to explore in the coming days. What do you think, do you feel like you are quite intelligent and thus have a predisposition to some negative things? Let me know in the comments.
If you want to take a free IQ test, check out this link (non-affiliate, I just took it last night and thought it was pretty good): https://iqtest.com/
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My name is Rob and I am a prospective law student with interests in cryptocurrency and blockchain. I have enjoyed my time thus far engaging with Web 3.0 and am looking to continue learning more and sharing what I learn through my experience
