From what I’ve read, it seems that most great women & men in history (and in present day) have higher than average IQ’s? I have sz and my Dad just told me that when I was 12, my IQ was tested and I scored a 131. I know that isn’t high compared to many, but average is below 120, right?
1 Like
It’s the opposite, actually.
Sz is associated with lower premorbid IQ, and psychotic episodes have been shown to knock several points off the IQ people had pre-psychotic episode.
It doesn’t mean much for the individual person - just having sz certainly doesn’t mean you have a low IQ. It’s just a trend noticed over large groups of people.
6 Likes
I have an inkling that many Sz types are more creative than your average shmoe. This gets us into more trouble during psychosis. At least it did with me anyways.
4 Likes
I read that, too! I think there’s those statistical “outliers” that are exceptions to this, such as John Nash, Elyn Saks, others who somehow stayed brilliant. I try to focus on those outliers to motivate myself.
It is unusual that the “outliers” to this often go on to be outright geniuses. I often wonder how brilliant they would be if they never had schizophrenia.
Then again, John Nash said that he’d see equations. I took this to mean that he was more than visualizing–he might have been experiencing positive symptoms. So, can you separate his sz from his genius in this infrequent cases of statistical outliers? I often wonder this.
I often also wonder how smart I’d have been if I never had sz.
4 Likes
I feel like much of the community here are outliers in a sense. There are a bunch of very smart people here, and considering how disabling sz can be, you have to have beaten a lot of odds to be here, participating, anyway.
7 Likes
I’ve noticed that too. There are so many smart, artistic, creative, and insightful people on this forum.
4 Likes
131 is superior IQ. Average is 90 to 110. Below 90 is below average.
2 Likes
From what I remember IQ or Intelligence quotient is a bell curve. The average being 100 although it is 99 for men and 100 for women. 120 is above average. I don’t know what percentile it is. I don’t know what the sigma is either. I have gotten many different scores on unofficial test but never had it tested officially. I kinda wish I had as I imagine I dropped a few IQ points after my psychosis.
1 Like
I think the different IQ tests are skewed a little bit differently. So, 90 might be average on one test, but below average on another. As for sz's having higher IQ's than average, it just ain't so. I think that, on average, sz's have lower than average IQ's. I've lived in an assisted living center for the mentally ill for over fifteen years. A lot of people pass through here, so I have a large sample size, and, from what I've seen, it is true that sz's have lower than average IQ's.
However, from what I've seen, there is a sub group of sz's whose IQ's are substantially above average, many in the genius range. One night someone posted an IQ test on this site, and virtually all the people on this site scored way above average on this test. I scored 136, and my score was below average for the people on this site who took the test. This is born out from what I've seen with all the people who have passed through the assisted living center where I live. Sometimes a person passes through who here is really smart. I think that if an sz is stable enough to have an internet connection that sz is going to be substantially above average in intelligence.
1 Like
Sad I wasted it or am wasting/squandering it. I don’t even have a high school diploma. Guess I should do something that actually matters
1 Like
I have an average IQ with a few cognitive deficits. I have reduced verbal fluency.
1 Like
My speech and cognitive function seemed to decline with my meds. My pdoc says the cognitive will come back, but that the speech will always be bad in moments of stress or psychosis
1 Like
Syd Barrett had sz, Albert Einstein had mental health issues & his son has sz, Tesla had mental health issues but I don’t think he was formally diagnosed, Abraham Lincoln had mh issues and his wife had sz, Vincent Van Gogh had sz, Veronica Lake had sz, John Kerouac had sz. WE ARE AMONGST IMPRESSIVE COMPANY! Be proud of yourself, everyone!
3 Likes
Who is to say what is important to do in a lifetime?
There was the secretary who was typing the biography of Bill Wilson, the founder AA. She said, “Too bad he never did anything with his life.”
Jayster
3 Likes
That’s awesome! Thank you!
1 Like
i think i have average intelligence compared to a lot of people here… there’s lots of smart people in this forum.
1 Like
I read Tesla’s autobiography and he totally mentions hallucinations!!
Here’s his book!! A reviewer was like, "I doubt he stayed awake that long, but if he did that would explain his frequent breakdowns"
Thank you for the encouragement! Us sz are resilient when we focus!
2 Likes
I think there was recent research that suggested how your IQ compared to the rest of the family,ie being lower than the family average was more a pointer to developing schizophrenia.
In that scenario a person with an IQ of 130 in a family where the average IQ was 155 would be at increased risk, whereas someone with an IQ of 95 where the family average was 95 would not be.
1 Like
I think that comes and goes with sz. It might fluctuate among normies too.
1 Like
I have seen quotes indicating the average is higher for men. See “Researchers in favor of males in g factor” in the link below. What can be definitively said is that it’s a contentious topic.
1 Like