I'd honestly be surprised if there weren't a correlation between distressed/disordered thinking of some kind and joining Mensa.

That sounds counterintuitive to me. "People with anxiety are more likely to join a community."

Not really, people with anxiety are often looking for self-validation and self-affirmation. Joining a community that screams "we're more intelligent than 99% of the population" sounds like a fair way to go with that anxiety.

You would be amazed in this instance. Mensa has a reputation for being very 'superior', very 'elitist', and that's the type of organization that is more likely to attract the more typically anxious or neurotic personalities.

Why? Communities allow people to work together to deal with shared problems -- like anxiety or not fitting in elsewhere.

Ehh, as someone with anxiety, it’s not that straightforward. Maybe you join it to socialize and improve your self esteem.

Granted, the members I know just really like puzzles.