 Happiness. We all crave the feeling of contentment and satisfaction. But not everyone actually achieves it. For many individuals, the presence of a great family life and a flourishing career is often not enough. A smart individual can have all these things and more, but still feel a sense of loneliness and sadness. Here are six reasons why smart people sometimes struggle to find happiness. 1. Intelligent people overanalyze It's common for an individual of high intelligence to overthink and analyze every aspect of their life. While this analytical nature can be a great asset, constantly analyzing everything in your life only leads to frustration and exhaustion. Your knowledge and life experiences have taught you to have a critical eye. This is a burden that many people don't carry, simply because they don't think on this level. Plus, there are the timeless dilemmas and philosophical issues that seem to have no solution. The more you try to figure it all out, the less satisfied you become in your quest for understanding. In this case, the saying, ignorance is bliss, is true. 2. Intelligent people have high standards Smart individuals like to hold everything in their life to high standards. And the failure to reach these standards ultimately leads to disappointment. Be it your career, your relationships, or even the talent and skill level that you bring to your daily activities. If your expectations are unrealistic, prepare to be disappointed. And the greater and more unrealistic the expectations, the greater the letdown when these hopes aren't met. 3. Intelligent people are extremely self-critical Unhappiness for highly intelligent people also stems from their deep thinking nature. When you compare yourself to those high standards, you'll blame your failures on your own shortcomings. This self-critical nature directly combats your happiness, and then fault-finding becomes your new normal. Intelligent people often think back to events of the past and to situations in which they behaved poorly or made the wrong choice. You may not realize it, but this constant regret over past decisions is robbing you of happiness every day. But those who are able to forgive themselves and work beyond these issues are on the path to happiness. 4. Intelligent people are overly ambitious It's very difficult for a person of high intelligence to be satisfied with what they already have. Your complex mind causes you to constantly seek something bigger and better, a greater purpose if you will. This drive to achieve can make you miss the simple things in everyday life that bring others a great deal of satisfaction. Your mind craves intellectual stimulation and you aren't satisfied until you find it. Then you need more of it. For this mindset, the saying, Stop and smell the roses can be helpful. 5. Intelligent people are often misunderstood We all want to be understood and accepted for who we are. It's great to share meaningful conversations with a like-minded person and to find someone who shares your own worldviews and philosophies. This can be quite difficult to find for a person of high intelligence. When you feel like no one can connect with you on your level, you feel alone and misunderstood. It's been proven that people with high levels of intelligence don't need to socialize as much as others, but the need for human interaction is still there. When you have a high intelligence, you just prefer to talk about meaningful and fascinating things rather than trivial subjects such as food or weather or other people. 6. Intelligent people often develop psychological issues Numerous studies have shown links between psychiatric problems and high intelligence. Anxiety and bipolar disorder are among the most common. It's not certain whether these disorders come from having a brilliant mind or not, but the prevalence of the connections cannot be ignored. Even in the absence of severe mental disorders, if you have exceptionally high intelligence, chances are you may struggle with depression because of the reasons mentioned above. When you constantly think on these things, you may also find yourself reflecting on life and death and the purpose of existence, topics that are often accompanied by feelings of sadness. In the end, you hold the key to your own happiness. Sure, the circumstances around you play a big part, but that doesn't mean they determine your happiness. Sometimes you have to adjust your perspective and priorities to really find this happiness. What are your thoughts about this? How do you find happiness in your struggles? Let us know in the comments. Also, we'd love to thank our sponsor BetterHelp, an affordable online counseling platform by real psychologists. If you are interested in learning more, it's in the video description below.