On Instagram, psychologist Baptiste Carreira Mellier (@le.neuropsy) defends a useful idea: HPI should not become the automatic explanation of discomfort. High potential can be influential, but be careful that a label masks real needs.
HPI is not a psychological diagnosis
High intellectual potential corresponds to intellectual abilities well above average, as demonstrated by a psychometric evaluation. In other words, we cannot conclude that someone is HPI because they feel out of step, think quickly, are bored, are hypersensitive, or recognize traits seen on the Internet. These signs may exist, but they are not enough.
This is a central point to avoid misunderstandings: the HPI is not
not a psychiatric diagnosisneither an illness, nor a global explanation of personality. It designates a level of cognitive performance evaluated within a specific framework. To know if you really are HPI, informal tests or lists of “signs” do not replace a serious evaluation.
The neuropsychologist rightly criticizes the tendency to see HPI everywhere. He reminds us that many people explain their difficulties with this label, sometimes after a test or a consultation, while high IQ is not enough to tell the whole story. Basically, this reservation is important:
HPI people do not form a homogeneous group. Some are fine, some are not; some succeed academically or professionally, others feel out of step.
Why high potential can still become burdensome
To say that HPI does not automatically cause suffering is not to deny suffering. For some people, the weight comes less from the high potential itself than from what surrounds it: family or school expectations, difficulty finding one’s place, boredom, incomprehension, isolation, or associated disorders which have not been identified.
The expert also puts forward an interesting explanation for the high visibility of HPIs in difficulty:
“Why do we see a ton of HPIs who are doing poorly? Because those who are doing well don’t consult.”
The people seen in consultation, already identified or requesting help do not necessarily represent all people with high abilities. This may give the impression that HPI is almost always associated with discomfort, although the available data do not allow this to be confirmed.
Several studies among young people with high abilities do not show, on average, a clear excess risk of psychological disorders. Some differences may even be favorable. But be careful: these are associations, not guaranteed protection.
High IQ is not shown to be a direct cause of psychological disordersbut it does not mechanically protect against anxiety, depression, academic or relational difficulties either.
What can turn the HPI into a burden is particularly reading everything through this single grid:
- Systematically attribute anxiety, fatigue or isolation to HPI;
- Ignoring an associated disorder or suffering that merits specific evaluation;
- Place a permanent expectation of performance on the child, adolescent or adult;
- Using the label as a definitive answer, when it only describes part of how it works.
This is particularly true during adolescence, a period when identity, relationships with others and schooling can already be fragile. The challenge is then not to blame everything on the HPI.
The right question is not “Am I HPI?”, but “What do I need?”
When a person is suffering, the HPI label can sometimes provide relief: it puts words to a feeling of disconnect. But it can also imprison if it becomes the only explanation. The useful question is therefore not only the IQ score, but what is actually happening: sleep, anxiety, mood, school or professional environment, relationships, self-esteem, possible learning or neurodevelopmental disorders.
In adults, HPI can be discovered late, sometimes due to exhaustion, professional boredom or a feeling of never fitting in. Here again, the HPI discovered in adulthood can help to reread certain experiences, but it should not replace the analysis of the context and real difficulties.
The most protective message therefore comes down to one nuance:
the HPI can shed light on a functioning, not summarize a person. If suffering exists, it deserves to be heard for its own sake, without being minimized on the grounds that high potential is “protective”, nor dramatized as if it condemns one to go badly. The suffering remains realeven when HPI is not the sole cause.