Emotional intensity in the gifted is not a matter of feeling more than other people, but a different way of experiencing the world: vivid, absorbing, penetrating, encompassing, complex, commanding – a way of being quiveringly alive.
Common Characteristics of Gifted Children:
Surprising emotional depth and sensitivity at a young age. Strong sense of curiosity. Enthusiastic about unique interests and topics. Quirky or mature sense of humor.
Kazimierz Dabrowski identified five types of “overexcitability” that he believed connected strongly to giftedness: intellectual, psychomotor, imaginative, sensual, and emotional.
Sensitivities and Overexcitabilities
Research has shown that gifted students experience heightened sensitivities and advanced emotional processing.
These aspects may include heightened awareness, anxiety, perfectionism, stress, issues with peer relationships, and concerns with identity and fit. Parents, adults, and caregivers in their lives need to stay in tune with their specific child's needs, and help shape a strong framework for social-emotional health.
Nevertheless, gifted children do appear to have certain social/emotional traits in common including: heightened sensitivity, emotional intensity and reactivity, feeling different, perfectionism and uneven development of intellectual and emotional areas (Erlich, 1982; Janos & Robinson, 1985; Kitano, 1990; Kline & ...
Students with learning and attention issues often experience feelings of failure, lack of acceptance among their peers and high levels of bullying, which can increase the risk of misbehavior and absenteeism. Negative emotions can exacerbate academic struggles, and school climate can also be a significant factor.
Gifted trauma stems from childhood issues with feeling like you don't belong anywhere because of your gift. Bullying, starving for mental stimulation, school mismatch, and other issues specific to the life experience of the gifted child may also contribute both to the main mental health issue and gift-specific trauma.
Because of their intellectual complexity, a gifted child can imagine a vast range of life scenarios that are unthinkable to the average child. They can and do feel with great intensity the emotions that are attached to each scenario and this can lead to them being overwhelmed by anxiety and fear.
Gifted people are usually also highly sensitive and intense. They are more aware of subtleties; their brain processes information and reflects on it more deeply. At their best, they can be exceptionally perceptive, intuitive, and keenly observant of the subtleties of the environment.
Most parents of gifted children won't be surprised that research supports what they can see for themselves: gifted children are highly sensitive to their environment and react with heightened emotional and behavioral responses, more so than do children of average intelligence.
Shows superior reasoning powers and marked ability to handle ideas; can generalize readily from specific facts and can see subtle relationships; has outstanding problem-solving ability. Shows persistent intellectual curiosity; asks searching questions; shows exceptional interest in the nature of man and the universe.
Social development and skills: gifted and talented children
Gifted children can think faster and/or more deeply than other children their age. So they're often good at imagining what it's like to be in somebody else's situation. Sometimes these qualities mean your gifted and talented child gets along well with others.
Definition. Emotional intensity refers to variations in the magnitude of emotional responses.
Highly gifted children often struggle to express this intensity and may either direct this energy inwardly, presenting as moodiness or anxiety, or direct this energy outwardly as tantrums or yelling and outbursts. Asynchrony is also closely linked to the gifted child's emotional development.
Signs and symptoms of emotional intensity
often in a big emotion, such as sad, ecstatic, furious, crying. not understanding why others seem to not feel anything over what seems to you a serious issue. able to go from calm to upset and back again very quickly. intuitive, feeling other people's pain as if it's your own.
Shifting self-image, shifting from feeling confident to feeling worthless or non-existent. Reckless, impulsive behaviors like substance abuse, binge eating, spending sprees, and other behaviors that can lead to serious long-term consequences.
Gifted individuals have expanded brain regions and networks for emotional processing, insula and cingulate cortex, allowing them to feel all dimensions of emotions (fear, anger, sadness, disgust, surprise, anticipation, joy, and trust, identified by Robert Plutchik) and ponder the deep emotional complexities.
While gifted children may not be any more susceptible to mental health issues as other adolescents, there are certain aspects of giftedness that may influence or amplify a gifted child's experience of mental health issues.
Gifted children are more prone to depression, self-harm, overexcitability, and learning deficits. A gifted student might be so paralyzed by her own perfectionism, say, that she refuses to hand in any assignments.
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (adhd)
Traits such as intensity, impatience, sensitivity, and high energy are common in children with ADHD, as well as in gifted children.
Center for Parent Information and Resources lists 6 types of emotional disturbances: anxiety disorders, • bipolar disorder, • conduct disorders, • eating disorders, • obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and • psychotic disorders. behavior affects educational performance.
Learning disabilities may lead to emotional distress
Students with learning disabilities tend to have higher levels of emotional concerns, such as depression, loneliness, and low self-esteem, than do their peers without disabilities.
Social, Emotional and Mental Health Difficulties (SEMH) are a type of Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). Children and young people with SEMH have severe difficulties in managing their emotions and behaviour. They often show inappropriate responses and feelings to situations.