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A theory on why people with more intelligence are prone to depression............

The knowledge that one is extremely intelligent leads to hightened expectations of self and of life.
According to Reality Theory, "depression" is defined as "the perception that one does not have control over changing his reality to meet his wants."
Said another way, the gap between:
* the picture of one's reality and
* the picture of the life he wants
is so large that he perceives that he is no longer in control of attaining the picture he wants.
Thus, it seems to follow that hightened expectations leave more room for someone to perceive "underachievement" to the point of depression.
 
Perhaps many of the "intelligent" people who are depressed, are being ignorant of a few things themselves. There are many things you don't know/can learn from "non-intelligent" people. You search/ask for the truth/purpose, but do you REALLY listen?
 
Contrary to popular opinion, it's been shown that "intelligent" (as much as this has been defined by psychologists) people are in fact--on average--in better mental and emotional health than the majority of the populace.
The image of the "tortured genius" is good cinema, though.
 
Nietzsche anyone?
I skimmed through the posts, but didn't notice anyone mentioning Nietzsche (easily could've missed it) who I believe got it RIGHT.
-All depressed people aren't intelligent
-All intelligent people aren't depresed
HOWEVER, there is a "depression" of sorts that arises mainly in intelligent people - Nihlism! I believe this is one of the things N. got really, really right. According to him, it takes a "heroic" person to even reach his state - the realization that there is no inherent meaning in the universe. Rationalization teaches us this. Philosophy teaches us this. Question, question, question, and we realize: hey, the fact that we are even alive and self-concious is a fluke at best. There IS no meaning, there IS NO absolute truth. Sounds depressing to me. What is there to live for?
...But then, it takes an even greater man to reach this state of nothingness, but become born again and create meaning in a world void of meaning.
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"The fate of our times is characterized by rationalization and intellectualization and, above all, by the 'disenchantment of the world.'" -Weber
 
Suggest the book The Noonday Demon:An Atlas of Depression for anyone interested...
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Intelligence is not best measured by the answers you have but by the questions that you ask
 
I have a great remedy for depression....it works for me......u know ur depressed...u know what about...wallow in your depression ......enjoy it......because after all it is just another human emotion.....ride it go with it.....& soon enough it's over & u move on.....the more u fight it...the worse it gets......how can u realise ur happy if ur not sad ?.....depression serves a purpose.......& I don't think that depression is something that is necessarily exclusive to the "intellligent"..people of our world.......just like someone mentioned in a previous post......it makes for great cinema.....true......the tortured genious??....etc etc......it's all just a myth!.......
 
I have a great remedy for depression....it works for me......u know ur depressed...u know what about...wallow in your depression ......enjoy it......because after all it is just another human emotion.....ride it go with it.....& soon enough it's over & u move on.....the more u fight it...the worse it gets......how can u realise ur happy if ur not sad ?.....depression serves a purpose.......& I don't think that depression is something that is necessarily exclusive to the "intellligent"..people of our world.......just like someone mentioned in a previous post......it makes for great cinema.....true......the tortured genious??....etc etc......it's all just a myth!.......
 
I have a great remedy for depression....it works for me......u know ur depressed...u know what about...wallow in your depression ......enjoy it......because after all it is just another human emotion.....ride it go with it.....& soon enough it's over & u move on.....the more u fight it...the worse it gets......how can u realise ur happy if ur not sad ?.....depression serves a purpose.......& I don't think that depression is something that is necessarily exclusive to the "intellligent"..people of our world.......just like someone mentioned in a previous post......it makes for great cinema.....true......the tortured genious??....etc etc......it's all just a myth!.......
 
I have a great remedy for depression....it works for me......u know ur depressed...u know what about..or maybe even if u don't....wallow in your depression ......enjoy it......because after all it is just another human emotion...it obviously serves a purpose otherwise we wouldn't feel it?.....ride it go with it.....& soon enough it's over & u move on.....the more u fight it...the worse it gets......how can u realise ur happy if ur not sad ?.....depression serves a purpose.......& I don't think that depression is something that is necessarily exclusive to the "intellligent"..people of our world.......just like someone mentioned in a previous post......it makes for great cinema.....true......the tortured genious??....etc etc......it's all just a myth!.......but it serves the pharmaceutical companies well!...:)
 
I have a great remedy for depression....it works for me......u know ur depressed...u know what about..or maybe even if u don't....wallow in your depression ......enjoy it......because after all it is just another human emotion...it obviously serves a purpose otherwise we wouldn't feel it?.....ride it go with it.....& soon enough it's over & u move on.....the more u fight it...the worse it gets......how can u realise ur happy if ur not sad ?.....depression serves a purpose.......& I don't think that depression is something that is necessarily exclusive to the "intellligent"..people of our world.......just like someone mentioned in a previous post......it makes for great cinema.....true......the tortured genious??....etc etc......it's all just a myth!.......but it serves the pharmaceutical companies well!...:)
Can I also add...that this is all on a very superficial level.....it does go more indepth than that.....just so as I don't get a barrage of abuse for being "superficial" about it all. It has alot to do with the way our society has taught us to deal with emotions......mostly it's taught us wrong. I could go on...but I can't be bothered...sorry..:)
 
I have a great remedy for depression....it works for me......u know ur depressed...u know what about..or maybe even if u don't....wallow in your depression ......enjoy it......because after all it is just another human emotion...it obviously serves a purpose otherwise we wouldn't feel it?.....ride it go with it.....& soon enough it's over & u move on.....the more u fight it...the worse it gets......how can u realise ur happy if ur not sad ?.....depression serves a purpose.......& I don't think that depression is something that is necessarily exclusive to the "intellligent"..people of our world.......just like someone mentioned in a previous post......it makes for great cinema.....true......the tortured genious??....etc etc......it's all just a myth!.......but it serves the pharmaceutical companies well!...:)
Can I also add...that this is all on a very superficial level.....it does go more indepth than that.....just so as I don't get a barrage of abuse for being "superficial" about it all. It has alot to do with the way our society has taught us to deal with emotions......mostly it's taught us wrong. I could go on...but I can't be bothered...sorry..:)
 
I'd say I have to agree with you Window...
I'd say a "natural" form of depression could come to us through memories...be it good or bad memories. Memories strike a nerve with any of us that kind of makes us take a step back and look at what we may have been at one time previous and relate that time to the present time in one's life....which can aid in self evaluation. Pictures of course are an easy way to this kind of melancholy triggering in the mind.
It is these moments that can bring a new shade of light to the present day....it can test the true strength of what you have attained in the present day. IE....if a type of depression strikes you at a time when you "seemed so happy." That means your "seems so happy" didn't have much strength, or atleast not enough strength to pull you through a down time. If you can bounce back from states of depression that could mean that you have developed a good standing ground of emotional control and "true happiness." That is unless it was rid of by shoving it under the rug as an attempt to forget and move on....not a highly reccomended method of overcoming problems, or events that bring on depression.
As for this post....I'd say a mind full of analization could bring about depression in one's mind....but an analization mind can also bring much strength and understanding to an individuals approach to life. It's all a matter of realizing that there trully isn't ONE thing in this world that should bring you down....it can only bring you down if you let it be that way. We create our own holes of deception and failures...
peash..
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Redemption song, "Emancipate yourself from mental slavery, None but ourselves can free our minds." - Bob Marley
"The sunrise....The sunsets....The night falls....For the music."
"You've seen paradise slip right through your hands."
"Your eyes are hypnotized by packets of sand."
"It all is swept away with your loving hands."
"The music takes me there, takes me back to dry land." - Cascades of Color
"Never Fed, Always Satisfied."
"Once Fed, Never Satisfied."
-Seth
 
Damn, who the hell dug this dinosaur up?
wink.gif

I am going to stick with my first theory,... but I do have to agree strongly with
window licker here. I can easily see considering depression as an emotion, it is SO powerful! How many other emotions make people want to just die?
When I get depressed, sometimes I drop it and make myself "normal" again, and sometimes I wallow in it just to remind myself that I'm alive,... and to remind myself I can come out of this at any time I wish. Maybe I am in the minortiy here, but I believe that any strong willed individual can break out of depression if they just make the effort...
I'm not being a hard-ass, because I've experienced the "want to die" levels of depression,... hell, this was WHEN I figured out I could stop the cycle.
 
"necessity is the mother of invention"
this holds true in this conversation as well...everyone gets depressed...everyone!!!
so the differance is how you deal with it(based on knowledge, experience AND intelligence) each and everytime...sometimes its easy, sometimes its hard and sometimes it has to be put away till such time as you can figure it out and deal with it...
i used to get depressed and stay that way for long periods of time about things that really had no direct impact on my life at that point...so one day i realized that just because i DON'T understand everything...dosn't mean that i CAN'T or WON'T be able too.
the point is as long as you keep your ISSUES separated from YOU then its much eaiser to to say "this is too much for me right now" put it away till later or try to focus on a smaller portion of the issue...
learning to deal with the infinite possible infinity's in this life is just one of the deeper aspects of this existance.
good post b.t.w.
P.L.U.R.
 
low seritonin levels are directly related to depression - is intellegence directly related to low seritonin levels??
 
thankyou for posting this, since reading this theroy i have been pushed to rethink my own understanding of what intelegence really is i hope to see more of your theroies soon so i can add them to my quest for knowledge.
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confucious say,he who go to bed with itchy but wake up with stinky finger.....
 
I believe intelligence can make one more kind and sensitive.
Being sensitve has its drawbacks in a world full of filth and ignorance.
I think its true, more smarts can lead to depression simple because one is awakening to find himself alone with not too many others to relate too.
On the other hand though, more intelligence also means more bliss and ecstasy, but see, it can be depressing with no one to share with.
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Law of Love.
 
...which in turn makes u appreciate so much more the people u come accross in ur life that u can share ur thoughts with...:).
...there is a reason behind everything & nothing behind every reason......
 
You want a neurochemical explanation?

Check out the acetylcholine-noradrenaline axis...
Cholinergic excess can dampen the noradrenic system, leading to loss of motivation and depression :)
 
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