One word for an ability that is self-destructive

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I am looking for one word to describe an ability that does more harm than good to the one having the ability.

For example, an artist who has so much to express that it drives him mad. Or a scientist who is so brilliant and ahead of his time that he is never appreciated. Or a precocious child who becomes a troublemaker because he is always bored.

The sentence I was trying to form went something like:

The scientist’s brilliance turned out to be {adjective} for him. OR

The artist’s extraordinary sensitivity to beauty {adverb} drove him crazy.

Answer

"The scientist’s brilliance turned out to be a double-edged sword for him."

Neither an adjective nor an adverb, this idiom seems to fit perfectly.

From TFD – "something that causes both advantages and problems."

From MW "something that has or can have both favorable and unfavorable consequences"

  • "His great intelligence was a real double-edged sword because he never felt he could communicate with ordinary people." – TFD

  • "This much freedom of expression and opinion can be a double-edged sword." – MW

Attribution
Source : Link , Question Author : Abhijeet Melkani , Answer Author : Centaurus

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