Are intelligent people immune to the mental effects of institutionalization?

Question

In Red Dragon, Will Graham claims to have drugged and interrogated Dr. Lecter for the location of where he buried a Princeton student. All he gave them was the recipe for dip.

In the insane asylum in Midnight Express, the man who explains the "factory" concept to Bob at the altar appears healthy and sane enough to walk and talk normally while the other patients and Bob are heavily sedated. He claims to have studied at Harvard and Oxford.

In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Sirius Black is the only person at Azkaban to not be driven insane by the energy of the Dementors.

In a Discovery Channel documentary on a maximum security prison, one inmate caught for smuggling drugs has degrees in over 600 university courses. He has escaped several times and must be constantly mentally occupied.

Are intelligent people immune to the negative mental side effects of institutionalization?

Answer 1

That's why Harry Potter, Midnight Express and Red Dragon are.... FICTION!

Very high intelligence is probably more like a high-performance car.  More finely calibrated systems to get slightly out of whack and cause problems. Anyone can be driven crazy, but for some it's a shorter trip :)

I'd say the best defense against the negative effects of institutionalization is remaining outside of such institutions.

Answer 2

No, they're not immune.  It only seems like it because they already are "crazy" or "weird", as so society states since they don't seem to understand why many intelligent individuals don't act according to the norm.  If intelligent people we're to conform to the norm, then no new ideas would spring up.  It would just be the repetition of a previous idea.  To answer your question, there is a very fine line between intelligence and insanity.

It only seems they are insane because average individuals do not seem to comprehend the way someone above average looks at the world (actually seeing through the bull**** and seeing reality more clearly).

Pink Floyd - Manic Depressive

Van Gogh - Cut his ear and sent it to his ex.

Answer 3

I'm not sure its automatic but I assume they've developed better coping skills.  The ability to concentrate, rationalize and stay focused  may help enable them to deal with the stresses.  You could also mention Viktor Frankl who survived a n**i death camp and later wrote - Man's Search For Happiness and was a founder of Logo Therapy

Answer 4

No. Not all people are immune to the negative mental side effects of institutionalization because everyone is susceptible on different levels of consciousness.

Answer 5

No I'm not.

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