The Fatal Consequences of High Intelligence

Article 09 - May 16, 2016

Gifted children are always the “special” ones. They are always expected to do rather well, at least more so than their peers. With those expectations they are constantly pressured by their friends and family to perform in what they think is the norm.

But will this mindset for these gifted children prove fatal?

A study was done in 1920 for over 1500 California children that were considered “gifted” back in the day. This is the Terman Study. Researchers observed these children over their lifetimes and found that their suicide rates are three times the national average.

Researchers also pointed out that higher IQs often have a direct correlation with suicide rates. Jamaica, with its national average IQ of 72, has suicide rate of 0.5 per 100,000 men and 0.2 for every 100,000 women. Germany, with its higher IQ scores, also came with a higher suicide rate— 21.8 per 100,000 for men, and 8.3 for women.

This pattern seemed to break cultural barriers and stays true for most of the world: Higher IQ equals higher suicide rate. One notable exception, however, is the UK, whose national average is a score of 100 (comparable to Germany), yet its suicide rate is 11 for men and 3.3 for women.

Those Californian children at the start of this article? Those involved concluded the study with a shocking figure of 33, over 50% higher than that of aforementioned Germany.

So why are high intelligence and self-murder so inextricably linked? One theory, suggested by Canadian psychologist Denys deCatanzaro in 1981, says that the idea of suicide stems from high levels of self-awareness. Only humans are capable of this level, and it appears much more often in those with higher intelligence. Not only this explains why animal suicides are such a rarity that you might have only ever heard of the term right now as I’m mentioning it, but it gives a fair explanation why those with higher mental capacity are more prone to taking their own lives.

deCatanzaro also poses another idea. The Darwinian thought of self-elimination as a means to remove self from the homo sapient gene pool might also be a contributing factor. In nature, humans sought to kill themselves off when they feel like a burden to society. In the early days it was the inability to reproduce and give offspring. Today, it is the lack of perceived achievement by these gifted children that made them feel like a drag for other people.

Though deCatanzaro’s theories has been disputed by other scientists, it remains a very reasonable answer to this mystery of a phenomenon. Many others suggested that it was the change in culture, or the secularization of society that led to the rise of suicidal actions. No matter what the final answer may be, the one thing we can all take away from this study is that the higher the intelligence a person attains, the higher the bar they will set for themselves for them to deem worthy.