For example, gifted children are typically more sensitive, empathetic, and in tune with their emotions overall. They think about things in more detail than other kids their age and tend to overanalyze, so when they see injustice in the world they may experience a sense of hopelessness from it.
Research tells us that gifted kids and adults are no more likely to struggle with these difficulties than other kids and adults. Some suggest that giftedness protects from Anxiety, while others suggest that it can create excess anxiety.
According to the data supporting this paper, highly gifted teens who were unable to experience meaningful spiritual, emotional, and intellectual exchange in their family, social and educational environments, or both are more susceptible to a depressive state than those who had more positive experiences.
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.
Existential depression is the most common type of depression in gifted adults. Onset often occurs in young adulthood. Classic symptoms include feelings of: Isolation.
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.
Without understanding and support, gifted kids face an increased risk of anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem, along with social and academic problems. Currently, experts estimate that up to 1 in 50 gifted kids drop out of school, while many more fail to live up to their full academic potential.
Gifted children are challenging to parent in many ways. The more gifted the child, the more often it seems the more the parent is frustrated with the discrepancy of someone able to do school several levels above age level but unable to remember to take their finished work to school.
They can have trouble adapting socially.
Being gifted means having different psychosocial needs. Social development and social skills can occur differently in gifted students. Their social interaction with same-age peers may not align well during childhood and adolescence.
Kids designated as gifted have long been thought to be more at risk of emotional issues, and to carry some of them into adult life, because of various factors: the National Association for Gifted Children, for instance, identifies "heightened awareness, anxiety, perfectionism, stress, issues with peer relationships, ...
Since gifted people learn quickly in at least one area, those other areas that take a little longer can feel like failure, and be painfully wounding to their self esteem. Many gifted people have a fierce inner critic that may prevent them from trying new things for this reason.
The higher the intellect, the more out-of-sync with emotional and physical development they may be. A gifted child understands concepts that he is not able to deal with emotionally. Death, the future, or world hunger may become overwhelming concerns. Situations like this can create frustration and distress.
While some gifted children may have a flair for the dramatic, that does not diminish the intensity of their emotions. These children may be experiencing what psychologist Kazimierz Dabrowski called an emotional overexcitability. 2 That means that they actually do experience emotions more intensely than others.
Gifted kid burnout or gifted kid burnout syndrome is experienced by adults labeled 'gifted' in their childhood. They do not necessarily have to have ADHD to experience it. Gifted kid burnout is most often caused by pressure from parents and educators, perfectionism, and heavy workloads.
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.
It is not uncommon for gifted kids to feel different from their peers—even at an early age. It is important for parents to recognize this fact and help them make social connections. Make sure your child has the opportunity to socialize with a diverse group of children, suggests Dr. Hollman.
Gifted adults differ intellectually from others and are more sophisticated, more global thinkers who have the capacity to generalize and to see the complex relationships in the world. Gifted adults have a heightened capacity to appreciate the beauty and the wonderment in our universe.
Likewise, two people of very average or low intelligence may have a brilliant child. In biology, this phenomenon is called a mutation. Another cause of giftedness is environmental, the belief that you can make a child gifted by exposing him or her to a variety of enriching experiences, beginning at an early age.
Gifted children are born with natural abilities well above the average for their age. If your child is gifted, you might notice these natural abilities in the way they're learning and developing. Children can be gifted in any area of ability, and they can also be gifted in more than one area.
Mildly gifted: 115 to 130. Moderately gifted: 130 to 145. Highly gifted: 145 to 160. Profoundly gifted: 160 or higher.
Social shyness and awkwardness in new situations are very common with gifted children. Parents need to handle their child's difficulty in new situations by setting up interactions that will not be threatening and giving help when help is needed.
Although IQ represents only a partial expression of giftedness, according to a purely psychometric view, giftedness is defined by an IQ of 130 or higher, placing gifted individuals at least two standard deviations above the population mean.
As a gifted adult, you are not the only one who struggles with romantic relationships in our fast-moving world. Being intense and sensitive, however, means you are more likely to face the following challenges. “Remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet.
It is typical for gifted friends to have differences and misunderstandings among them that lead to inappropriate responses and behaviors, and overreactions. Gifted children can be bullied by others who don't understand how and why gifted children are different. Non-gifted children are resentful and jealous.
They tend to be especially perceptive in picking up on environmental cues, so they may be more sensitive to issues in the world and judgments from others. They also often feel overloaded and overwhelmed by information. Gifted students can be very hard on themselves as they strive for high standards.