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Not to detract from all the valid points raised in this thread, but the elephant in the room is that an individual’s level of education is generally associated
by crx087 9y ago
Not to detract from all the valid points raised in this thread, but the elephant in the room is that an individual’s level of education is generally associated with increased intelligence, and higher intelligence is associated with much higher rates of almost all psych diagnoses.
The same is also true in most other areas of higher personal achievement: lawyers, CEOs, politicians, etc are all disproportionately on various spectrums of depression, substance abuse, sociopathy, narcissism, and so forth.
At least part of the problem is how we view mental conditions as a society, which leads people to think that this is abnormal.
- sndean 9y ago> higher intelligence is associated with higher rates of almost all psych diagnoses. Here's a recent thread about that: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15886128 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15886128 Yeah, it's possible that people with higher intelligence are more susceptible to some of the mental health issues that academia seems to induce. I know I struggled with some issues the last ~2 years of my PhD, but the issues were probably already there at the outset.
- verylittlemeat 9y agoCouldn't it be that a high level of education/intelligence is also a sign of high socioeconomic status which would imply better access to healthcare and more psych diagnoses? This might be wrong but it seems like an obvious superficial criticism.
- cJ0th 9y agoThis would mean that you wouldn't find a difference in poor and highly educated Canadians. I don't have data on this but I doubt it.
- verylittlemeat 9y agoYou might be right but it looks like this specific article is USA specific (at least the paper it's referencing is).
- ggg9990 9y agoJust like a more powerful car is more likely to catch fire.
- projektir 9y agoHigh intelligence is also associated with the following: 1) not fitting in socially; 2) higher awareness of things. Neither of these are good for anyone's mental health, but they're not problems directly caused by intelligence itself. Their combination is especially bad, as one could be aware of potential problems while others aren't, generating all sorts of friction. I believe higher intelligence simply requires better personal mental health management, but there isn't really anywhere for people to learn that and I would say our current philosophical assumptions do not facilitate it.