I heard that left-handed people are more likely to be schizophrenic and die early. Is this true?
There are studies that show a link between left handedness and schizophrenia - https://news.yale.edu/2013/10/31/left-handed-people-more-likely-have-mental-disorders-schizophrenia
Also, left-handed people make up a larger percentage of US Presidents than their 10% of the population. And quite a few of genius-level artists (Leonardo DaVinci. Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Picasso, etc.) were left-handed.
That cpould be just coincidence, though. I haven’t heard of any scientific hypothesis that shows a connection.
I think left handed people are over represented at both ends of the IQ spectrum with genius intellects and profound retardation. I’ve noticed anecdotally a lot of lefties are gifted mathematically that I know in my personal life. My Dad is left handed and quite intelligent and gifted at many tasks that don’t seem at all related and has had a varied career. On the other hand though he is an alcoholic and a huge narcissist.
I believe the prevailing idea is that mixed-handedness is more of red flag of potential problems than left-handedness.
Oh dear. (Piper, who uses different hand for different tasks.)
Could you point me to any discussion of this, monstro?
I’d be interested, too. I’m left-hand dominant, but majorly mixed-handed.
There is one thing that is nearly always done left handed by men and right handed by women:
Flush the toilet.
Left-handed people apparently have more brain-structure variation than right-handed people, which is one big reason we are excluded from drug trials, neuropsych testing and other stuff. I highly suspect (though I’m not aware of current evidence) that the reason there are so many highly successful left-handed people is because our brains can be very flexible. With left-handedness, you’re more likely to get someone who is capable of abstract problem-solving and highly creative *and *pays close attention to detail and can easily do all three at once.
A buddy of mine was telling me there is evidence left-handed people have faster reaction times than right-handed people. And that we are more impatient/less able to handle suspense (a big hell yes from me.)
We’re also more sensitive to medications, probably because we’re excluded from most drug trials. I don’t know if we are more likely to have a mental illness but I’d wager on the basis of exclusion from drug trials alone, we’re probably more difficult to treat.
In essence, we’re the wild cards. it’s difficult to generalize about us because there is more variation among left-handed people than there is variation among the general population. That’s my understanding of things.
Personally I’ve always suspected my left-handedness lends me a pretty significant neurological advantage, but I’m also crazy AF, so take that with a grain of salt.
Oh, and as for dying early - being left-handed is a huge occupational hazard if you work with machines or other equipment that could kill you. That alone would probably drive down the life expectancy rate.
I’ve also seen the argument that the younger death rate for lefties is because of the greater likelihood of accidents caused by living in a world where machinery, cars, and even kitchen spoons are designed for the right-handed majority.
I would be interested to hear what qualifies as “mixed-handedness.” I have found that anything one-handed I do left-handed, but anything two-handed I do right-handed. I have yet to find an exception. For example in cricket/baseball I bowl/pitch left-handed but bat right-handed. I write left-handed, but play guitar right-handed.
I graduated from university/college when I was 19, with a degree in Pure Mathematics and Computer Science, so I guess I fit this profile.
I remember reading those attempts in the late 60s and early 70s to retrain young kids from lefty to righty cause mental issues. If true that could drive up the rate of mental issues for the left handed.
Re mixed handedness, I don’t follow the pattern that Lord Mondegreen mentions. Most things I do right-handed, but there’s a large number of things I do left-handed, and others just depending on the situation.
For example, I write with my right-hand, but mouse with my left-hand. Back when I was doing the books for my Dad’s stores, i used my left hand to run the adding machine, my right hand to write down the results.
Cooking, I peel the carrots left-handed, but then cut them up right-handed. Trying to do anything else just feels weird. I stir with either hand, counter-clockwise when I use my right hand, clockwise with my left.
My mac, I mouse on the trackpad with either hand, depending on which works for a particular task.
I worked in a call centre a few years ago, and the majority of the 60-odd operators were left-handed, including the CEO himself. I don’t know whether mental-illnesses were rife (well, I know a FEW of them were mad as march hares…) but interestingly, most of the ‘lefties’ were only working there to supplement their incomes as artists, musicians, actors and other more creative occupations.
This is anecdote, not data, but it always struck me as odd even back then.
Some links for those who might be interested:
Mixed-handedness associated with the reporting of psychosis-like beliefs
Mixed handedness associated greater age-related decline in certain brain structures
Mixed-handed children more likely to have mental health, language, and scholastic problems
I’m a mixed-handed individual. I write, eat, and brush my teeth with my right hand, while the left does just about everything else. It’s also larger and stronger than my right. Sometimes while I’m doing a chore, I will find my right arm hanging loosely by my side, like it’s just along for the ride. It also doesn’t swing naturally when I walk.
I believe I probably am a natural leftie. But back when I was a small child, it wasn’t clear that I had a dominant hand. So the nursery school teachers forced me to be right-handed.
mixed-handedness? Do you mean ambidextrous?
I’m predominantly left-handed, and everything else as well: eye, ear, foot, etc. What is unusual is that I cannot use scissors with my left hand, even if they are left-handed scissors. I have to use my right hand for many things. I had a Kindergarten class of Asian students–mostly Koreans and Japanese. I had to teach myself to write with my right hand so I could teach them, because their mothers were shocked that I was left-handed, and they didn’t want their kids to use their left hands, no matter what their predominant hand was. It wasn’t difficult for me because I could do so much with my right hand already.
I have never been diagnosed with any mental health conditions.
So does mixed-handedness appear to be a genuine biological thing, or the result of weird forced socialization? I realize for kids it could be both, since neurological development and rapid brain growth is occurring that could very well embed environmentally-driven behaviors permanently into the brain.
I’m primarily left-handed and wasn’t made to write with my right. As I’ve aged, I’ve become more ambidextrous (or ambisinister), probably because of two-handed activities like operating a computer or sewing. I still write only with my left hand, except for fun, but do everything else including eating pretty evenly.
No important non-normative mental phenomena, no major injuries or accidents.
I can’t even fathom ambidexterity. I consider my right hand almost useless. It can help carry things but that’s about it. My stepfather was a sign painter who could do art with either hand. I always thought that was pretty crazy, but it probably developed as a necessity of his job. As a sign-maker, you couldn’t always choose the location or orientation of your canvas.
(He was also most likely a sociopath… not looking good, ambis! ;))
I was never held back from being left-handed. It was pretty obvious right away because I started reading books backward as a small child - opening the back cover first and flipping pages from left to right. When I think about how important writing was in my young life, and how kids were often forced to be right-handed, it sickens me to imagine how many talented artists and writers were destroyed that way.