How true is the IQ myth

I know it is true for me my IQ is that of a Genius according to those online IQ tests but again I was always am exceptionally clever child. What about you guys is the myth true or not? What do you think overall?

I meant for people with any mental illness that is!

No. It is not true. It is true that there is often a talent (especially in the arts) for
many bipolar people. For some it's very strong; for others, it's milder.

Why don't you read Touched With Fire by Dr. Kay Redfield Jamison? That's one of her books that deals with talent in some of the world's best known artists who were bipolar based on anaylsis of their lives. (She is herself a bipolar person with a Phd. in Psychology and is a psychiatrist on tenure at a large hospital in the U.S.)

Creativity usually functions best with an I.Q. of around 120; above that level there is very little correlation between intelligence and creativity, although knowledge may be much broader and deeper at higher IQ levels. An I.Q. of 130 is considered very bright or gifted; I.Q. above 145 is considered genius by some testing standards. I think I.Q.s run the gamut in bipolar illness just as they do in the general population.

I feel like I should be offended by this thread

Please don't be,its just that in my culture when you develop a mental illness later on in life its associated with being too clever, like when I got sick everyone was like well it was bound to happen she was too clever for her own good. So ya it kind of makes me wonder!

my IQ used to be just 2-3 points lower than that genius limit,but i was never able to cross that genius territory, it used to annoy me a lot..

anyway my current i.e. today is about 135 ... it's about 5 point less than what it was 3 years ago... i.e. before my depression started... if i had measured it in last year i.e. in severe depressive episode, i bet IQ would have been 110 or something... .. depression tends to freeze my brain ..

I measured out at 126 when I was in college in my mid-30s. I used to have a fine mind, able to read and interpret and memorize with little effort, but Lord only knows what the bipolar and the meds have done to my IQ. I mean, some days I feel dumber than an entire bag of hammers, even though I still have enough wherewithal to write articles for my blog and function at a relatively high level at work......well, when I CAN work, that is.

online IQ tests are not valid.

If you are interested, you should get tested using the Wecshler test.

I agree with hamster.

I was tested with the WAIS again last year and my IQ has dropped 11 points due to my depression, possibly meds (pdoc says no). Pdoc has said that it will come back when (if) the depression lifts, which is the only thing that keeps me going. I feel so stupid most of the time now I doubt I'm depressed just because of a high IQ though.

*Willow*

why on the earth?

same situation here... we should start support group for those who lost their IQ due to depression...

Sometimes I suspect that my meds has affected my creativity somewhat. When I depressed I was able to produce so many poems and stories (though they were very depressing) and now I can't write the way I used to.

I have an invitation to join Mensa, don't know what my IQ actually is, but when I took the test it was largely skewed towards visual-spatial abilities which I excel at.

The way it struck me is that IQ's may be effected just because someone has a mental illness. Maybe I misunderstood the OP but that is the first thing that came to my mind, So I felt like I should maybe be offended.

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I think maybe you might be at or above 165 if you have an invitation to join
mensa. I know it's very high in order to get an invitation to join.

I realsied it had to be high but I was thinking maybe 140 plus. Like everyone else I think my IQ has been negatively affected by depression. I took the test 20 years ago. But I think IQ is overrated.

I agree with you all and the depression seems to effect my IQ negatively. I had the WAIS administered 3x in my life. The last time at 48 yo and it was 159 then and that was just a little off of the 2 previous tests by age. But I certainly feel less creative and not as on the spot as I did in my 30s but that could be almost anything. I'd like to think it is something besides my MI.

The IQ test I scored decent enough 141 or 146, I don't remember. I did way too many drugs as a youngster, messed up my already messed up head. The test was a bore I never wish to experience again. Now I'm overwhelmed and forgetful and play brain training games to try to get the brain power back... yep... Daily survival is enough effort.

I have read that physical exercise is more beneficial than brain training games.

Also, there is some evidence that baby aspirin helps against cognitive decline, but I cannot take it because I get nosebleeds from it.

Sleep too is key to optimal brain function. I'm doing Lumosity the games are not really that easy. The app for iPhone asks me my mood and sleep on a sliding scale before I do the brain training on there. I know I need to exercise, almost went today.

. Mensa requirement is 98th percentile or about 130 depending on the test used.

No, I don't think it's 130. I think it's much higher. An I.Q. of 130 is not that unusual.

As previously stated, online tests are not valid and will tell you very little about your actual IQ. And yes, there is a correlation between high IQ and MI, a strong correlation actually. But I do not think people with MI have higher IQs. People with very high IQs are however much more likely to have MIs. And if that didn't make sense to you I can recommend learning some statistics - it's really helpful. Also, no level of IQ is proof that you are a genius. Most IQ tests are extremely limited, for practical reasons, and none of them measure your intelligence with good validity. That concept is simply too wide to be measured reliably and validly. At least for the present. IQ is a score that is related to (operationalized) intelligence, it is not intelligence.

Top 2 percent or 130 or above.

No, I'm wrong on this. It's top 2 % or 130 or above.