High intelligence: A risk factor for psychological and physiological overexcitabilities

As shown in Fig. 1, Fig. 2, participants with very superior (130 and above) intelligence were significantly prone to rumination leading to mood disorders, and worry leading to anxiety disorders. However, the relationship between genius and madness is not a new notion. It is well known that many historical intellectuals such as Leonardo da Vinci, Sigmund Freud, Albert Einstein, and Pablo Picasso were plagued by overexcitabilities leading to documented pervasive affective and mood disturbances (Ehrenwald, 1984). Sir Isaac Newton viewed his gifted creativity as a product of intense, prolonged rumination. He brooded over past mistakes and worried excessively which eventually led him to suffer a nervous breakdown in 1693 (Westfall, 1981). 

Those who surround such individuals tend to be overwhelmed by their intense way of seeing and feeling “too much.” This can lead to increased familial and relational conflicts (Morawska & Sanders, 2009) and painful isolation from peers (Gallagher, 1958), causing a crisis of self as they attempt to minimize their responses to better adapt and fit in with, the vast statistical majority around them who possess an average IQ. This struggle begins from a young age and, given that IQ remains relatively constant can continue for a lifetime.

https://www.pnas.org/content/116/47/23499