This theory holds that, for all of its advantages, being highly intelligent is associated with psychological and physiological “overexcitabilities,” or OEs. To explain their findings, Karpinski and her colleagues propose the hyper brain/hyper body theory. The prevalence of environmental allergies was triple the national average (33 percent vs. The differences were smaller, but still statistically significant and practically meaningful, for most of the other disorders. More than a quarter (26.7 percent) of the sample reported that they had been formally diagnosed with a mood disorder, while 20 percent reported an anxiety disorder-far higher than the national averages of around 10 percent for each. The biggest differences between the Mensa group and the general population were seen for mood disorders and anxiety disorders. With a return rate of nearly 75 percent, Karpinski and her colleagues compared the percentage of the 3,715 respondents who reported each disorder to the national average. Respondents were asked to report whether they had ever been formally diagnosed with each disorder or suspected they suffered from it.

It also covered environmental allergies, asthma and autoimmune disorders. The survey covered mood disorders (depression, dysthymia and bipolar), anxiety disorders (generalized, social and obsessive-compulsive), attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism. (The average IQ of the general population is 100.) The survey of Mensa’s highly intelligent members found that they were more likely to suffer from a range of serious disorders. For most intelligence tests, this corresponds to an IQ of about 132 or higher. A “high IQ society,” Mensa requires that its members have an IQ in the top 2 percent. In a study just published in the journal Intelligence, Pitzer College researcher Ruth Karpinski and her colleagues emailed a survey with questions about psychological and physiological disorders to members of Mensa. Now there’s some bad news for people in the right tail of the IQ bell curve.

Although the reasons are not fully understood, they also tend to live longer, healthier lives, and are less likely to experience negative life events such as bankruptcy. People who do well on standardized tests of intelligence-IQ tests-tend to be more successful in the classroom and the workplace.

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