Existential Depression in Gifted Children and Adults (2009) [pdf]
<i>They become keenly aware of
their small ness in the larger pic ture of exis tence, and they feel help less to fix
the many prob lems that trou ble them. As a result, they become depressed</i><p>I have heard it&#x27;s the opposite: that smarter people are happier. I think the problem is these studies on happiness and psychology are so imprecise. maybe also anecdotal evidence and cherry picking.<p><i>Other char ac ter is tics of gifted chil dren and adults also pre dis pose
them to exis ten tial dis tress. Because brighter people are able to envi sion the
pos si bil i ties of how things might be, they tend to be ide al ists. How ever,
they are simul ta neously able to see that the world falls short of their ideals.
Unfor tu nately, these vision ar ies also rec og nize that their abil ity to make
changes in the world is very lim ited. Because they are intense, these gifted
indi vid u als—both chil dren and adults—keenly feel the dis ap point ment
and frus tra tion that occurs when their ideals are not reached. They notice
duplic ity, pre tense, arbi trari ness, insin cer i ties, and absur di ties in soci ety
and in the behav iors of those around them. They may ques tion or chal lenge
tra di tions, partic u larly those that seem mean ing less or unfair. They may
ask, for exam ple, “Why are there such inflex i ble sex or age-role restric tions
on people? Is there any jus ti fi able reason why men and women ‘should’ act
a cer tain way? Why do people engage in hyp o crit i cal behav iors in which
they say one thing but then do the opposite? People say they are con cerned
with the envi ron ment, but their behav iors show oth erwise. Why do people
say things they really do not mean at all? They greet you with, ‘How are
you?’ when they really don’t want you to tell them the details of how you
are. Why are so many people so unthinking and uncar ing in their deal ings
with others? And with our planet? Are others really con cerned with improv -
ing the world, or is it simply all about self ish ness? Why do people settle for
medi oc rity? People seem fun da men tally self ish and tribal. How much dif -
ference can one person make? It all seems hope less. The world is too far
gone. Things get worse each day. As one person, I’ll never be able to make a
difference.” These thoughts are common in gifted children and adults</i><p>I think these concerns are common to most people...not just the smart