11 Struggles Only Highly Intelligent People Have To Deal With
Intelligence can be both a gift and a curse.
Andreshkova Nastya | Shutterstock Intelligence is generally related to one’s ability to process, synthesize, and remember information. While people of high intelligence typically have better emotional intelligence, more meaningful relationships, and an easier time achieving success in traditional workplace settings, according to a study published in the Personality and Individual Differences journal, there are particular struggles only knowledgeable people have to deal with.
From navigating unique conversations to perfecting a balance of their intellectual capabilities, life isn’t necessarily easier for intelligent people, and for many, it’s actually less fulfilling.
Here are 11 struggles only highly intelligent people have to deal with:
1.The burdens of pessimism.
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According to career coach Marty Nemko, many brilliant people struggle with pessimism in their daily lives because they’re more aware of the complexities of their situations. From reading news headlines to planning their futures and navigating the workplace, they are more likely to worry about things that never cross their counterparts’ minds.
Along with practical stressors, many intelligent people also struggle with their general emotional well-being, especially with age. Other studies suggest that the inevitable cognitive decline that comes with aging is tough for intelligent people who tie their self-esteem and identity to their intelligence.
2.Acknowledging and addressing their weaknesses.
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While admitting our weaknesses is generally an issue for people of various intellectual abilities, highly intelligent people tend to struggle with it to a higher degree—driven by the strong-willed intelligence that’s often led them to success. Struggling to accept where their judgment might’ve blinded them, these people may attempt to make up for lacking “wisdom” with sheer cognitive ability.
Companies like Google have already integrated this tendency into their hiring processes, screening people for “intellectual humility” to ensure their employees are willing to innovate and work collaboratively without struggling to admit when they’re wrong or don’t know something.
Of course, learning intellectual humility isn’t something that happens overnight. It starts with untying your intelligence from your self-esteem and generally ends with accepting that “smartness” doesn’t equate to worthiness or success in traditional institutions like Corporate America.
3.Imposter syndrome.
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While imposter syndrome isn’t necessarily an official diagnosis, it’s most frequently experienced by intelligent people in high-paying or influential positions, especially with multiple educational degrees or accolades. Believing that they’re “never doing enough” or are undeserving of their status, the pressures of imposter syndrome feed into the mental health concerns highly intelligent people struggle with.
Like psychologist Leon F. Seltzer argues, highly intelligent people often set lofty goals and expectations for themselves to “prove” their worth under the weight of imposter syndrome — fueling a cycle of anxiety and burnout that’s detrimental to healthy emotional stability.
4.Pressure to succeed.
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Many intelligent people who’ve found success in education or the workplace early in their lives may experience greater pressure to succeed—whether it’s societal, personal, or driven by someone in their family. They feel obligated to challenge themselves to the highest degree, chase the most difficult or time-consuming job, and sacrifice the passions of creativity, personal interests, and relationships for “bigger and bolder” pursuits.
According to the Harvard Business Review, these same intelligent people may ignore their own weaknesses or hyper-fixate on their perceived strengths to achieve a pressured goal, missing opportunities to invest in their personal lives or learn beneficial skills for later in life.
While less intelligent people might feel similar pressures to grow into personal goals, the degree to which intelligent people’s emotional and mental health is affected tends to be more impactful as a collective community.
5.Unique mental health struggles.
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According to a study published in the Intelligence Journal, intelligent people are more likely to develop and experience the consequences of poor mental health. Often experiencing overexcitability and hyper-body activity, intelligence is argued to be a risk factor for mental health concerns like personality disorders, anxiety, and depression.
Unlike less intelligent people who may be struggling with their mental health, many high IQ individuals tend towards rumination over their mental health symptoms and rely on anxiety-driven behaviors and habits to mediate their effects on daily life.
6.Social anxiety over unpredictability.
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Many intelligent people yearn for control in their lives, as less unpredictability gives them more opportunity to prove themselves and demonstrate the intelligence fundamentally rooted in their self-esteem. Interacting with other people, specifically with strangers in public settings, can often spark a unique social anxiety in brilliant people, as they don’t have a specific framework or “set of rules” to help guide conversation.
According to a study published in Frontiers in Evolutionary Neuroscience, scientific evidence supports this link between high intelligence and higher rates of worry and anxiety. While people of lower intelligence may experience a similar social anxiety rooted in a "deficit mindset,” the difference is that they’re anxious to overrule a deficit of practical intelligence by proving their own social intelligence, extrovertedness, and charisma.
7.Competitiveness and toxic comparison.
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From a societal and interpersonal perspective, many intelligent people feel pressured to compete with one another—even in passing conversations. To achieve a comfortable sense of confidence, they compare themselves to other intelligent people and try to “one-up” others in conversation to assert themselves and prove their intelligence.
While competitiveness isn’t solely correlated with high intelligence, as a study from the Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization suggests with a survey on desired salaries, many intelligent people feel pressure to remind others (and sometimes themselves) of their cognitive abilities to find peace and comfort in social situations.
8.Philosophizing casual conversations.
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With a wealth of information and struggles to debate healthily in daily interaction, highly intelligent people tend to over-philosophize casual conversations with friends and strangers to prove their intelligence and spark stimulating discussion.
According to the Davidson Institute, this tendency towards complex and abstract thinking tends to spark existential crises earlier and more often in highly intelligent people than in their counterparts.
9.Feeling pressure to ‘prove’ their intelligence.
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Despite several subtle ways to show your intelligence, many intelligent people feel overwhelmed by societal and personal pressure to prove their intelligence in new relationships and conversations—often in ways that sabotage productive connections and new relationships.
With such an innate link between their self-worth and intelligence, it’s impossible for many intelligent people to feel seen, understood, and secure in a relationship where they think they haven’t done enough to prove their cognitive abilities and intelligence.
10.Being labeled as inherently arrogant.
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People with intellectual gifts and cognitive abilities tend to become comfortable with their superiority in traditional conversations and interactions — especially in institutions like Corporate America or a university. Essentially, they get used to being “right” and being praised for it. While it’s not necessarily an intentional personality trait, these people also tend to get labeled as arrogant, pursuing academic validation and self-fulfilling value.
According to the Management Psychology Group, this perceived high arrogance and high intelligence can have a healthy impact on practical workplace and educational success but be detrimental to personal relationships and social connections.
11.Constantly overthinking.
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Seeing the complexities in everything is both a gift and a curse for highly intelligent people, often sparking consequential habits to mental health like rumination and overthinking. Whether it’s overanalyzing another person during a conversation, reading the news, or solving a problem at work, their tendency towards complex thinking can spark a lot of anxiety in their daily routines.
While high intelligence can lead to positive traits like higher emotional intelligence or communication skills, it can also lead to a cycle of overthinking that creates barriers to true fulfillment and comfort in relationships, jobs, and daily life.
Zayda Slabbekoorn is a staff writer with a bachelor’s degree in social relations & policy and gender studies who focuses on psychology, relationships, self-help, and human interest stories.