London: Brilliant students face a higher
risk of suffering from bipolar disorder than their less
intelligent peers, claims a new research, supporting the
belief that exceptional intelligence is linked with the mental
illness.
According to the study at Karolinska Institute in Sweden,
students with higher level of intelligence are almost four
times more likely to suffer from the condition, known as manic
depression.
Albert Einstein, Sir Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Sir
Winston Churchill, Alexander The Great, Christopher Columbus
and Picasso are some of the great names believed to be
suffering from the disorder, The Telegraph reported.
Lead researcher Dr James MacCabe of King`s College London
said: "We found achieving an A grade is associated with
increased risk for bipolar disorder, particularly in
humanities and to a lesser extent in science subjects.
"A-grades in Swedish and Music had particularly strong
associations, supporting the literature which consistently
finds associations between linguistic and musical creativity
and bipolar disorder."
For the study, researchers analysed exam results of more
than 700,000 Swedish teenagers and discovered that those with
the most excellent performance were nearly four times as
likely to develop the disorder as adults, compared to those
with average grades.
This increased risk even remained after they took
consideration of other factors such as parental education and
socioeconomic status, according the findings published in the
British Journal of Psychiatry.
PTI
