I remember learning a poem in school by a man named John Dryden, one line of which was ‘Great wits are sure to madness near allied, and thin partitions do their bounds divide’.
Our English teacher gave us many examples of geniuses, giants of literature, art, sport, music, etc. that were addicted to drugs or drink, or thought to be mad, or perhaps died young, or committed suicide, or found it difficult to handle ordinary life.
He seemed to have an interest in why highly intelligent and gifted people appeared to be vulnerable to addiction, emotional frailty and mental illness – and so did we. And with Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and others we had loads of contemporary examples from the world of pop music, in whom we were fascinated – in a kind of teenage morbidity. And if you are a younger person reading this I am sure that, sadly, you have examples from today’s world!
As I grew older I loved watching films and documentaries about great geniuses that had serious personal problems and found life very difficult. One night I was watching such a film with a friend after which, as we were walking home, he said to me ‘You know you’re better off to be thick’!
And it’s true, there is a certain safety in not being that bright, or talented, or gifted.
The gifted genius is very often misunderstood as an infant, toddler or child, and because of that her world may become unsafe. Her unwillingness to be compliant and fit into a box ordained for her by society in general (parents, school, social networks etc.) is sometimes seen as a problem to be corrected rather than an asset to be affirmed and nurtured.
The sensible ones may hide their gifts for some time in mainstream society’s institutions, lest they be thought to be different. Their talents and gifts may lie dormant until they find a time and an accepting environment, and on release, they may then prosper.
Perhaps these are people who have what is nowadays known as emotional intelligence. (This term was – to the best of my knowledge – coined by Daniel Goleman. It is the title of a 1995 book written by him which is well worth reading). But in others their great talents and gifts are accompanied by a stubborn personality which refuses to be bowed by the conventional norms of society.
Before I knew anything about trauma, dissociation or narcissism, I intuited that many gifted children struggled because their gifts may have been misunderstood by their parents and/or teachers who tried to correct them, and so they suffered quite a lot when young.
As a young man I knew many other young men and women around my own age who (I sensed) drank more than was good for them, (even when the rest of us were sick of it) and/or kept going in and out of disastrous relationships – but who were also very gifted in different ways.
Now, working with people who go to prison (and their families), I know of many who have great gifts and talents but also tend to have problems with misuse of drugs and alcohol and have difficulty sustaining relationships.
Well, if you have stuck with me till now you will probably have guessed that I am the type of person that, if I am interested in something, I’ll try and find out as much as possible about it.
And you are right.
I became almost obsessed with trying to figure out how the great talents of very hurt people could be harnessed to firstly (and primarily) help themselves, and then help others – if – of course, they were interested in doing so.