Caltech tragedy raises questions
A news story about two Caltech students who died of suicide in the weeks before the recent commencement made me wonder again: Do more gifted people die from suicide? Are high ability people more vulnerable?
The Caltech students who died were senior Jackson Ho-Leung Wang, a mechanical engineering student from Hong Kong, and [...]
Nick’s universe
In his article The Geek Syndrome, Steve Silberman wrote, “Autism – and its milder cousin Asperger’s syndrome – is surging among the children of Silicon Valley. Are math-and-tech genes to blame?
“Nick is building a universe on his computer. He’s already mapped out his first planet: an anvil-shaped world called Denthaim that is home to [...]
Elyn Saks’ private demons
The photo is Oxford scholar, Yale law student, and USC legal professor Elyn Saks, who revealed in her memoir some of the “horrors and demons of schizophrenia,” as described in the article A secret life of madness, by John M. Glionna (Los Angeles Times), who writes that “she wrestled with uncouth visions, [...]
Claire Danes on moving past perfectionism
“My therapist gives me permission to accept that I’m human.”
Actor Claire Danes also explained in an interview that, as a kid, she “was on this whole perfection trip. And that’s just totally boring. And arrogant!…
“I finally realized after years of therapy.. that you can encourage yourself to move further in [...]
“Psychologists believe that a number of famous creative luminaries, including Vincent Van Gogh, Albert Einstein, Emily Dickinson and Isaac Newton, had schizotypal personalities.”
That quote comes from the ScienceDaily article Odd Behavior And Creativity May Go Hand-in-hand, which explains, “Often viewed as a hindrance, having a quirky or socially awkward approach to life may be the [...]
In his article Is There A Little Rain Man In Each Of Us?, Darold Treffert, MD asks if it is possible “to tap and use those still existent, but less frequently used, capacities and circuits, with some of their savant-like characteristics, in those of us more wedded to left brain capacity and higher level memory?”
He [...]
“Much madness is divinest sense”
Emily Dickinson
[Photo: Tom Hulce as Mozart in Amadeus (1984)]
A new look at Tourette’s
What is labeled mental disorder may really be an asset.
In her article “Wild Child,” Joanne Barrie Lynn, whose son has been diagnosed with Tourette’s and autism, notes that some researchers “believe there is evidence Mozart was a classic example [...]
Elyn Saks: defying the predictions
Elyn Saks is a college valedictorian, Oxford scholar, Yale law student, USC legal professor – and a person with schizophrenia.
The university press release “USC law professor battles schizophrenia” declares, “However ironic, the life of Saks’ mind has been her salvation. Even as her brain attacks her with fear and hallucinations, it [...]
“Academic intelligence has little to do with emotional life…
people with high IQs can be stunningly poor pilots of their private lives.”Daniel Goleman in his book Emotional Intelligence.
In her article Emotional Intelligence of the Gifted, Joanna Fletcher notes that Goleman gives examples of high IQ people “who are not achieving the heights they were destined for.”
But [...]
Gogo Lidz
Psychiatric misdiagnosis and consequent unnecessary or even destructive medication for “troubling” symptoms is an issue that impacts many gifted and talented people.
In her article My Adventures in Psychopharmacology, Gogo Lidz [in the news program clip above] writes, “Between the ages of 16 and 21, I was prescribed more than fifteen different stimulants, antidepressants, antipsychotics, [...]
Maggie Preston and Ritalin
A news article on the topic of ADD and treatment interviews several people, including Maggie Preston [27, right] who “was diagnosed with ADD at 16 and took Ritalin for four years. She quit over concerns about addiction after several occasions when she used her medications recreationally. Now she’s a student of photography [...]
In her article Creativity, the Arts, and Madness, Maureen Neihart, Psy.D. notes, “There are numerous examples of artists who used their work to save their minds. For example, Anne Sexton [photo], who was institutionalized for her psychosis wrote, “Poetry led me by the hand out of madness” and Jackson Pollock’s large canvas drippings have been [...]
Prevalent among highly gifted sensitive adults
A post on the HSP Notes blog – Of Giftedness, ADD, Depression, and being an HSP – says “Existential Depression.. generally doesn’t affect many people, except in a very fleeting and vague manner. However, it is extremely prevalent among highly gifted sensitive adults. It’s pervasive, non-specific, numbing and immobolizing — [...]
Talented and challenged
Novelist Patricia Cornwell [left] has had bipolar disorder: “My wiring’s not perfect,” as she puts it, and she takes a mood stabiliser.
Other highly talented people with mental health challenges include psychiatrist Kay Redfield Jamison, writer and actor Carrie Fisher, tv journalist Jane Pauley.
Giftedness misunterstood
But people may also label attributes of giftedness negatively, as [...]