u/Suspicious_Limit9847

My IQ is 79 and I struggle a lot with coming to terms with it. I often do not understand people who are more intelligent than me (which encompasses most people, of course) because they exist within a completely different intellectual realm; they comprehend things in ways I can‘t. It doesn‘t help that I am autistic and have adhd— as a consequence, I don‘t perform very well socially either. I don‘t have any inner talents or skills, and I have become very indifferent towards everyone and everything as a partial effect of it.

I struggle a lot with abstract thinking, logic, hypothethicals, communication, self-awareness, creativity, processing speed, verbal comprehension, spatial awareness, manual labor/eye to hand coordination, understanding other people more intelligent than me, making connections, etc.

So, it basically makes me feel absurdly sad. I feel very indifferent now, and I barely care about learning anything or resolving my ingrained ignorance. So I just don‘t want to feel sad anymore. I go to therapy but it doesn‘t work that well because I am also severely depressed and have two personality disorders.

Hey. To give some context, I have a diagnosed low IQ of 79 and I learn very slowly. I typically struggle with various practices such as intellectual/critical thinking. This ranges from not being able to critically analyze situations, may they be social/intellectual discussions or day to day life, to barely having the ability to have a deeper understanding on any topic, even if it‘s one of my hyperfixations.

I also should say I struggle a lot with white and black thinking because of my low intellect, and struggle with self-reflections and self-awareness. I only know I have a low IQ because I got told.

Besides autism and adhd I have a diagnosed below average IQ of 79, that still fits within the functioning range however is considered below the average. It frustrates me a lot because I struggle with complexity and depth; I am an extremely superficial person even with my special interests. I read a lot and engage on a lot of intectually demanding tasks, which frustrates me even more because I am really slow and my ability to learn is quite limited. I don‘t limit myself or anything, they‘re really limits I have.

It makes me even madder that there‘re so many extremely intelligent autistic people yet I am not one of them— I actually turned out to be quite stupid and ignorant.

I struggle with black and white thinking, repetition of mistakes, slow learning, lack of abstract thoughts/general issues with abstraction, connection of ideas, lack of analitical thinking, ignorance, lack of awareness, lack of curiosity, etc. I want to know how to stop getting frustrated. Don‘t dismiss my diagnosis.

Posted this somewhere else.

To expand a bit upon the question, what I wish to convey is that I do not really want to be a better version of myself. I am not satisfied or disatisfied with my current self; I am indifferent about it. I have no care for my life or my well-being neither.

For background, diagnosed, I have some severe ass depression (persistent and major) and a couple of neurodivergences. I ain‘t very smart either (I was tested to be of 79IQ). So yeah, my doctor told me I had a pretty bad depression and I really am not thinking straight. I was also told that I may develope personality disorders, but I can‘t be diagnosed with them because I am too young.

Back to the main point, I really don‘t have the desire to change and that may be my worst flaw. I am aware that the alternative to not changing is to lay down and rot, which I am not adverse to. As I said, I don’t really care. I take my meds and they don‘t really solve anything themselves, they do somewhat prevent the mood swings I tend to have however.

I hope I am not breaking the rule of this subreddit “post most fit the self-improvement mindset“

To expand a bit upon the question, what I wish to convey is that I do not really want to be a better version of myself. I am not satisfied or disatisfied with my current self; I am indifferent about it. I have no care for my life or my well-being neither.

For background, diagnosed, I have some severe ass depression (persistent and major) and a couple of neurodivergences. I ain‘t very smart either (I was tested to be of 79IQ). So yeah, my doctor told me I had a pretty bad depression and I really am not thinking straight. I was also told that I may develope personality disorders, but I can‘t be diagnosed with them because I am too young.

Back to the main point, I really don‘t have the desire to change and that may be my worst flaw. I am aware that the alternative to not changing is to lay down and rot, which I am not adverse to. As I said, I don’t really care. I take my meds and they don‘t really solve anything themselves, they do somewhat prevent the mood swings I tend to have however.

I hope I am not breaking the rule of this subreddit “post most fit the self-improvement mindset“

I‘ll try keeping it short. So, I don‘t have the desire to be a better person. I have some very bad traits, like tendencies to violence, abuse and emotional manipulation. I do not feel empathy and I am extremely selfish in all regards. I have resigned myself to never have romantic relationships, so I avoid harming anyone. Diagnosed, I have severe persistent depressive disorder, major depressive disorder, ADHD and autism; I probably have personality disorders as well, though I am a minor yet and can‘t be diagnosed with them. I have a diagnosed low intellect (79 IQ, recently diagnosed) as well, possibly because of the cognitive decline I experience and shit genetics.

I have no desire to change. I do not care about being better or happier; I outright do not give a shit about anything anymore. I am impulsive and just do shit and say shit for the fuck of it, independently if it harms someone or something. I am ashamed to say I have said a lot of mysoginistic and racist shit because of how mad and uncontrolled I am. I have a combination of these bad traits, immaturity and mental illness. Honestly, I am just an asshole that happens to be mentally ill. I can feel empathy sometimes, but I think my lack of care for everything heavily supresses it; I talk of affective empathy.

I stopped taking my meds (I take risperdal and sertralin; sertralin helps with heavy mood swings like those in BPD, according to my doctor) because they don‘t work— told my mom it was just a waste of money. I still go to therapy. I still know I can be better, just want to gain the desire to be better in the first place. I want to know why shouldn‘t I resign myself to this life if I don‘t care already. Since I am not entirely hopeless, thought that I might as well ask.

I‘ll try keeping it short. So, I don‘t have the desire to be a better person. I have some very bad traits, like tendencies to violence, abuse and emotional manipulation. I do not feel empathy and I am extremely selfish in all regards. I have resigned myself to never have romantic relationships, so I avoid harming anyone. Diagnosed, I have severe persistent depressive disorder, major depressive disorder, ADHD and autism; I probably have personality disorders as well, though I am a minor yet and can‘t be diagnosed with them. I have a diagnosed low intellect (79 IQ, recently diagnosed) as well, possibly because of the cognitive decline I experience and shit genetics.

I have no desire to change. I do not care about being better or happier; I outright do not give a shit about anything anymore. I am impulsive and just do shit and say shit for the fuck of it, independently if it harms someone or something. I am ashamed to say I have said a lot of mysoginistic and racist shit because of how mad and uncontrolled I am. I have a combination of these bad traits, immaturity and mental illness. Honestly, I am just an asshole that happens to be mentally ill. I can feel empathy sometimes, but I think my lack of care for everything heavily supresses it; I talk of affective empathy.

I stopped taking my meds because they don‘t work— told my mom it was just a waste of money. I still go to therapy. I still know I can be better, just want to gain the desire to be better in the first place. I want to know why shouldn‘t I resign myself to this life if I don‘t care already.

Hey. I am fairly young and haven‘t even went on to university, so this is quite premature decision on my part. I have a diagnosed low IQ, several mental illneses and some neurodivergences. But they aren‘t really my reason to give up. I am not "hopeless", I moreover do not really care that much.

Since my IQ is fairly low, I do not engage in intellectual reflexions/discussions, and thus I do not care about having meaning, or if life actually needs meaning. I will go to university only to satisfy my parents, which both work on the medical system and thus expect me to be a professional as well, however if I have to dropout of university as a consequence of my low intellect, then I will. My dream job aligns more with a retail job or a call center job, as they are repetitive, have clear instructions and are not intellectually demanding. I can speak german, spanish and learning japanese, so some call center jobs would pay fairly well.

I do not intend to work towards happiness and satisfaction; they are things I do not concern myself about anymore. As it can be percieved, what I wish can be assigned as taking the easy path in life, without significant exertion on my part. I desire romantic relationships, however I have prohibited myself from ever having one as a consequence of these desires. I do not wish for anything, do not care about anything or anyone. I am extremely self-centered, and I do not care about growing into a better person or anything of that sort.

Before you guys question why I am asking for advice in the first place, I will answer that it is because I still question myself wether this is the right decision or not, so I wanted some advice to try and counteract these believes I have and convince me to be something better. As I said, I am not entirely hopeless. I just don‘t care that much. I still know I can grow, maybe.

I am still fairly young, haven‘t even went to university yet, but decided to give up anyways. I decided to stop taking my meds, to have any romantic relationship (since I am giving up it would be innapropiate to have one) and on happiness in general.

I was diagnosed to have a low IQ, also to have several mental illneses and a couple neurodivergences. One could argue that I am not thinking straight, however I think that is inconsequential to my decision, as I have had them from a young age and they are chronic, and thus, realistically, there‘s isn‘t any possibility for me to be in a better mental state.

I am not hopeless; I am moreover self-centered. I want to take the easy way out, because I can‘t bring myself to care about anything outside of my own perception. Even in spite of the low IQ, I will go to university in order to study something related to healthcare, albeit this is only a plan B. I do not wish to endure the difficulties of a professional enviroment; I am much more inclined to work in something like a call center. I can speak spanish and german, and consequently I‘d get payed okay. If I have to drop out of university because I am too stupid, I wouldn‘t really care; I just do it to satisfy my parents and make them not bother me.

I just wish to take the easy route, where there are little expectations from me, where I can be entirely selfish, where I can just barely do the minimum. I desire this path fervently, as I do not care about anything else or anyone else. I don‘t have the energy to do anything besides surviving. I do not give a shit about existential questions, happiness or satisfaction— there was a moment in my life where I just simply stopped caring about those things. If I am going to be miserable, then I might as well be miserable whilst doing the easy shit and giving up on any dreams or love.

For me it‘s sort of hard to live with. I have autism as well and it‘s terrible. Not even meds can fix my lack of cognitive capacity. I often envy those of us people with ADHD and autism who have a high IQ in spite of the disability; there‘s so many things I can‘t do. It‘s not an online IQ test; it was professionally measured to be 79.

Of course I am not diagnosed as intellectually disabled, however 79 is still very low, below the average, in fact. It‘s terrible how badly I struggle with abstract thinking, thinking in black and white, problems with memory, slow processing speed, understanding concepts, connecting the dots, seeing the bigger picture, etc.

I am severely depressed and thus I have a cognitive declinement as well. My full potential is very low, as I don‘t possess any talents or significant skills that could make me thrive through life comfortably. I never do well in exams as I academically am below the average, I never seem to understand academic concepts. I have problems with hand to eye coordination, so I suck at manual labour. I was tested to have very low arithmethic abilities— you can already imagine how bad I am at math.

I am 17, in my 11th grade and I will soon be in university. As a consequence of coming of highly educated parents, one being doctor other one a nurse, I am expected to also gather a high academic achievement, as well as being expected to choose a prestigious degree. I am terribly fucked— university will be hell.

I don‘t understand what went wrong in my genetics for me to have a low IQ, since both my parents have a fairly high IQ. Yet again, it is quite common for some autistic people to be significantly below the average because of the underdevelopement of certain areas of the brain, and thus it might be an explanation for it.

Why was I even born, I wonder sometimes.

Hi. I am 17M and I have always been really insecure about my cognitive abilities. If you see my post history, it becomes obvious the level of insecurity I present. I have autism and ADHD and I have a hyperfixation with the concept of intelligence; I have read exhaustingly about it. I obviously refer to logical-mathematical, spatial and linguistic intelligence; there may be other types of intelligence which I of course won‘t disregard as unimportant, however these aspects are the ones I lack and the ones I am deeply insecure about.

I was diagnosed to have an IQ of 79 by a neuropsychologist in the WAIS test, which is below average intelligence (the average is between 85-115, 100 is the mean). Everytime I try to talk about this people always want to disregard my results, as many remark my average writing skills to subsenquently invalidate my result, trying to convince me that I am actually much higher even though it is not as so at all. Please do not do this with me or anybody else with similar struggles, it is invalidating instead of comforting— those results show themselves in my day-to-day life.

I have been severely depressed ever since I have been a child, as well as presenting many traits of Borderline Personality Disorder. My depression worsens my intellect even further, and the disease will most likely be a chronic one, persisting across my entire life. Everyday I am reminded of my inferior cognitive abilities and it is absolutely humilliating. It doesn‘t help either that I wasn‘t born with the type of autism which makes me exceedingly proficient in a certain area; I am untalented. I am even worse than mediocre, I am straight up bad at most things, mediocre at some very few. My capacity of skill acquisition is almost non-existant, and I am still laugheably average at things I have been doing for years, such as playing videogames.

No impostor sydrome, dunning-kruger effect, or any other shit. I am literally an unintellectual person, handicapped partially. I am worse than just average, so consequently I might as well be nothing. I hate to define myself like this, but I can‘t see it anyother way; I am quite literally inferior to others, which makes me a terrible person as that therefore means I see people like me as inferior as well. Why was I even born, I wonder.

Hi. I am currently 17 and I want to study microbiology. I am not sufficiently smart for many things, however I will regardless attempt to study this career, as I have always prefered the medical field over engineerings or pure sciences.

I do have autism and ADHD which severely impair my ability to think abstractly, have a reliant memory, communicate, concentrate, and all that. I obviously suffer from executive dysfunction which hinders my ability to work in fast-paced enviroments, and I am consequently also a little bit slow, so to say.

Does the microbiology career and the jobs related thereto reliant on these abilities? Should I still pursue the field? I really like this field, and even though I am not very smart I still quite like biology and chemestry a little too. I am costa rican, albeit I believe the field in here is relatively similar in the U.S and other countries as well.

I am young, and I was diagnosed with autism, ADHD (which both provoke severe executive dysfunction) and a professionally measured IQ of 79, along with a cognitive decline because of degenerative psychiatric disorders. I struggle a lot intellectually, so to say. I am medicated.

When I ask if it matters, I specifically refer to spatial-visual intelligence, logical-mathematical intelligence and linguistic intelligence (the three areas the test I took measured); things like comprehension of abstraction, processing speed, memory, hand-eye cordination, pattern recognition, appropiate verbal and written communication, problem solving, acquisition of skills, etc.

Does it matter in the long-run? I know the IQ test doesn‘t even come close to measuring intelligence as a whole, nonetheless it does measure aspects that are really important for success, therefore I am somewhat worried.

Sorry for any grammatical mistakes, my first language is spanish.

Hi. I have ADHD, autism, a diagnosed IQ of 79 in WAIS IQ test. Some severe mood disorders too, getting tested for OCD. I know IQ doesn‘t represent intelligence holistically, however it is important to consider that it does somewhat represent someone‘s logical-mathematical intelligence, spatial intelligence and linguistic intelligence. My score is also a result of not only genetics, but my two neurodevelopemental disorders, cognitive decline product of insidious psychiatric illneses and a still developing brain. I am medicated for all of my illneses and recieve intensive therapy.

That aside, I have a severe executive dysfunction; trouble with following orders, organization, initiation, distraction, focus, memory and velocity of information processing. Being creative is extremely challenging, I am atrocious at problem solving (autism and adhd provoke it) and I have consequently developed an extreme anxiety before situations where my problem solving skills are tested— I became someone who gives up almost instantly against anything (I was almost diagnosed for AVPD) I often think in black in white, I live in extremes— I often have a hard time discerning the nuances of a situation. It makes abstract thinking extremely difficult. Obviously, I struggle a lot in school, especially with memory and math heavy subjects— not only are the subjects themselves hard for me but the processing of learning as well.

Depression further aggravates my negative feelings towards these results; not only must I live with the reality of cognitive inferiority, but I must live with the consequences thereof. I have even allocated myself as an inferior human, although I know this isn‘t true as the test doesn‘t represent my total capabilities, regardless it is quite alarming as for my age my cognitive level should be higher.

I am sorry for the long text. I am sorry as well for any gramatical mistakes, spanish is my first language.

17M. I have autism, ADHD and a diagnosed IQ of 79– I may also have an auditory processing disorder. A lot of issues with communication/ socializing, logic, memory, spatial awareness, verbal comprehension, mathematical logic, following instructions and eye-hand cordination (I am terrible at working with my hands). Not american.

The future seems quite grim for me; I wanted to know what career paths yall took whilst being autistic, or which career paths fit my profile. I really like some science subjects like genetics and psychiatry, but that‘s beyond my reach now; my intelligence and conditions would severely hinder my ability to succesfuly go through brutal degrees like those. My other special interests aren‘t really financiable.

I am aware I am severely limited therefore I won‘t ask for something that pays a great amount, just something that will let me do my hobbies and simultaneously live well.

I have autism, ADHD and a diagnosed IQ of 79– I may also have an auditory processing disorder. A lot of issues with communication/ socializing, logic, memory, spatial awareness, verbal comprehension, mathematical logic, following instructions and eye-hand cordination (I am terrible at working with my hands). Not american.

The future seems quite grim for me; I wanted to know what career paths yall took whilst being autistic, or which career paths fit my profile. I really like some science subjects like genetics and psychiatry, but that‘s beyond my reach now; my intelligence and conditions would severely hinder my ability to succesfuly go through brutal degrees like those. My other special interests aren‘t really financiable.

17M, will go to university in a few months. I have some comorbid mood disorders, ADHD and a diagnosed low IQ(79). I will soon go to university and I am quite uneasy about it; I have a lot of problems and deficits related with executive dysfunction, problem solving, logic, communication, and bassicaly everything related to the cognitive abilities one must enforce while in the institution. I am not excedingly proficient in a specific area or discipline either, like other autistics (I wasn‘t born the gifted autistic :c).

I am worried I will not be able to get through it, especially since my parents expect me to go as I grew up quite priviliged— they expect the same academic excellence they had, although I just feel like I won‘t be able to tolerate it; I barely can tolerate highschool and even on easy classes my grades are underwhelming.

I have no idea what major to pursue if I have a general difficulty with everything— I am worried that I won‘t be able to even finish university in the first place. What careers are good for people like us? I don‘t want to be rich, but neither I wish to conclude a degree that has no realistic use, or one that is saturated without job opportunities. If you guys can share your experience or recommendations I would deeply appreciate it.

I go to therapy. I have autism, adhd, persistant and major depressive disorders.

The easiest way to explain this is with a very recent occurance in my life; my grandma died. Shorly summarized, I didn‘t give a shit, even though everyone else did. During the funeral I just wanted it to end because I was tired and mildly annoyed; I was bothered by the people crying around me as well. My grandma treated me well, she constantly showed love to me, regardless I was persistently annoyed/uncomfortable with it. I have never told anyone "I love you" as it makes me somewhat cringe for some reason. When love is displayed to me, I usually feel corny or uncomfortable, even repulses me quite a bit. It’s weird because I am affectionate, however displaying it and being on the recieving end both make me scared and uncomfortable. I am ashamed; I think of myself as inhumane and disgusting because thereof.

I am also extremely self-centered and display concerning narcissistic tendencies. When I say self-centered, I mean it to the point that I am willfully ignorant just so I don‘t have to challengue myself or my ideas. I am often unbothered my others issues, only taking importance to mine. I am sensible to criticism as well; I take it really badly and often prones me to becoming aggressive and violent. I have, in the past, lied in order to construct a version of myself which doesn’t exist at all, only because I desperately seek approval and I am substantially afriad of dissapointment, criticism or disapproval in social situations. It has conduced to a general avoidance to displaying myself to other people. I must highlight that numbing myself is the immediate stance I take whenever I am confronted my difficult situations and the emotions stirred therefrom.

I want to fix it because I want to feel genuine love and care for others, instead of being such an empty shell. I am severely alexythemic, consequently I have a hard time discerning how I actually feel, and thus provokes signficant unsureness within me. I must mention that I am not absolutely devoid of love or empathy, I still can feel them however to reduced levels. I still love my parents and I believe I loved my grandma; I simply do not understand why I assume such an unnatural reactions to these kinds of situations.

17M. was born fairly priviliged, never experienced abuse or bullying (I believe I have never been, as I don‘t remember my childhood; my last, clear memory is from around the last weeks of 9th grade— memories of my childhood are very minimal) and I have good parents. For some background in respect to my mental health, I have had chronic depression since I was a child (according to my parents) and when I was around 14 I had my first depressive episode; I must go to therapy because I have traits of AVPD and BPD.

I am fairly alarmed by this as I want to feel love like everyone else does— I do not want to sound edgy or anything. I have never said to my parents “I love you“ and the prospect of me saying so makes me cringe significantly, it makes me feel a sort of repulsion, and I hate it, since my parents are very good people. When I am told I am loved I also cringe massively, and makes me feel the same repulsion.

I am around below average-average in looks, and thus I have been rarely involved in any sort of romantic situations; I have never felt romantic love either, and I consequently endeavor to stray away from them as I feel like I would only use such a relationship for sex, not because I felt love or care for the partner in question. I have thought many times if I actually do feel love, but for some reason or another I try to supress it because of how uncomfortable it makes me feel to face such an emotion.

I feel emotions very intensely, and therefore arises as well my fear of loving too fiercely, as such intensity can provoke damage to my signficant others. I often feel like numbing myself down is an immediate response to complicated emotions such as sorrow and love; in my grandma‘s funeral I didn‘t even cry or really care about it, I just felt empty and sort of bothered to be there; I just wanted to leave as I was tired. Even if it is very contradictory in nature, my intensity is coupled with a very intense emptiness that often provokes the aforementioned apathy.

I want to learn how to both feel love and accept it appropiately and as well how to confront intense emotions without the immediate response of numbing myself.