Died at the age of 48 on March 25, 2026, Loana will remain a significant figure in French television. First reality TV star with Loft Storyshe has also embodied, over the years, a trajectory made of dazzling successes and profound psychological fragilities. Among the elements that she herself put forward to explain her difficulties: significant hypersensitivity and an intelligence quotient that she claimed was much higher than average.
A claimed high IQ… but difficult to live with
In several interviews, Loana mentioned an IQ of around 140 “higher than Einstein”, affirming that this intelligence allowed her to anticipate the expectations of her interlocutors, including in therapy.
In an interview given in December 2024, she explained that she could not receive treatment for her bipolar disorder and her various addictions. For a simple reason: during depressive episodes, she tended to
“answer what was necessary to get out of it faster”,
rather than expressing his real suffering. A mechanism which, according to her, complicated her psychiatric care.
His descent into hell and his disappearance raise the question today: is a high IQ more difficult to take care of?
High IQ and mental health: a nuanced relationship
For psychiatrist Joachim Mullner, there is no clear link between high IQ and the effectiveness of psychiatric care or suicide risk.
He recalls that Loana mentioned bipolar disorder, a pathology associated with a high risk of suicide, estimated between 5 and 10% according to several studies. Added to this were addictions to psychotropic drugs, alcohol and medications – all aggravating factors… but independent of the intellectual level, in the literature.
According to him, a high IQ could even facilitate access to care, because it is often correlated with a higher educational and social level and less stigmatization of mental disorders. Some research even suggests a protective effect: better reasoning and anticipation skills could help manage anxiety or stress.
On the other hand, more robust data indicate that lower IQ constitutes a factor of psychiatric vulnerability, in particular due to unfavorable socio-economic conditions and less access to care resources.
Patients who want to understand, an explanation from an HPI expert
But for psychologist and neuroscience researcher Fanny Nusbaum, a more detailed reading of the question is necessary.
She describes certain high-potential people, whom she calls “philo-cognitive”, as having a very strong need to understand, rationalize and make sense of what they experience.
In this context, the therapeutic relationship can become more demanding. “These patients tend to analyze the practitioner’s speech, to test its coherence and to adhere to the treatment only if they fully understand the issues.”
In Loana’s case, if she was philo-cognitive, the difficulty of treatment was possible. “That is to say that in this case, she could be a person who knew by heart the speech that was going to be given to her. And who came across people who could not really contribute to the building, in relation to her issues.”
But the researcher points out that multiple factors could have combined in the young woman: early trauma, mood disorders, addictions and a highly publicized life story. So many elements that make any analysis simple, impossible.
More than intelligence, the challenge of the therapeutic encounter
Finally, Fanny Nusbaum sees above all in this case a poor focus: the difficulty does not come so much from the high IQ itself as from the possible unsuitability of the therapeutic approaches.
“In high potential, the problem is often more on the side of practitioners than of patients”she emphasizes. “A good practitioner is first and foremost a good communicator: he must understand how the person in front of him works to encourage their adherence to the treatment.”
An understanding that was perhaps not there with the practitioners we met.
Loana’s journey ultimately reminds us of an essential reality in mental health: the quality of the relationship with the health professional is often determining. Finding a practitioner capable of listening, explaining and personalizing care therefore constitutes a major challenge. Sometimes even more than the very nature of the disorder or the level of IQ.