The Challenges Faced by Highly Intelligent People

Highly intelligent people are often assumed to have it easy in life. However, this is not always the case. While intelligence can give them advantages, it also brings its own set of difficulties and challenges. The way highly intelligent people are raised and develop can also lead to them feeling isolated. Here are the top five struggles only highly intelligent people suffer from.

They Are Under More Pressure to Succeed

Intelligent people tend to feel superior to others because they can see and understand things that those around them cannot. They become starkly aware of the direction their lives are headed, and they feel that it should head in a different direction than everyone else. They aspire to have a better career, more money, and better relationships than those around them.

If highly intelligent people feel like anything they do doesn’t contribute to being more successful, they feel like they are doing themselves a disservice. This pressure they put on themselves can grow and lead to feelings of stress and anxiety. If their lives don’t take the path they think it deserves, they criticize and attack themselves.

They Find It Harder to Make Friends

Intelligent people seek friendships with other intelligent people. They ask clever, seemingly innocent questions that help them identify whether or not a person is someone worthy of their friendship. Even if a potential friend has much to offer or similar interests, an intelligent person may be quick to dismiss them if they don’t display a level of insight into the world that matches theirs.

This means highly intelligent people tend to be lonely. They become used to being alone and find solace in their work. While this means they dedicate more time to making breakthroughs in their field, they are at risk of developing depression.

They Suffer from Paralysis by Analysis

Intelligent people like to be aware of all the pros and cons before making a decision. Knowing these can often stop them from making a decision altogether as they over-analyze and let potential ‘what if’ scenarios get the better of them. This may also be because many highly intelligent people are perfectionists and want to achieve the best possible result in any given situation.

If they are leading a team or organization, this can be potentially disastrous. Imagine being responsible for making the final call on the direction your company is going to take, but you can’t decide on what the core values should be. This can be frustrating and crippling.

They Are Trapped by Their Intelligence

There are several instances of highly intelligent people feeling helplessly trapped by their intelligence. For example, when they attempt to teach someone and the person doesn’t understand, they can’t proceed. They find it difficult to empathize and lack the desire to help others understand.

Additionally, others may resent highly intelligent people, and anything they say might sound pretentious, even if they’re just stating the facts. This can make socializing unnecessarily hard.

They Find It Harder to Be Happy

Highly intelligent people may feel cursed by their intelligence. They often think about the saying, “ignorance is bliss” and wonder if it would be better if they weren’t so smart. However, pretending to not be so intelligent feels like they’re not being true to themselves.

All the overthinking they do on a daily basis can lead to anxiety in social situations. Happiness comes from accepting the universe exactly as it is, but when you can’t help but over-analyze the world around you, it’s almost impossible to simply let yourself be absorbed by the imperfect beauty of what’s around you.

In conclusion, highly intelligent people face their own set of difficulties and challenges, including being under more pressure to succeed, finding it harder to make friends, suffering from paralysis by analysis, feeling trapped by their intelligence, and finding it harder to be happy. These challenges can be difficult to overcome, but awareness and self-acceptance can help. If you know someone who is highly intelligent, it’s important to understand these struggles to support them through them.

Tags: highly intelligent people, challenges, pressure to succeed, making friends, over-analyzing, feeling trapped, happiness, awareness, self-acceptance.