Gifted people's minds range from being somewhat to extremely complex: intellectually, creatively, emotionally, sensually, physically, existentially or some combination of these factors.
Common Characteristics of Gifted Children:
Strong sense of curiosity. Enthusiastic about unique interests and topics. Quirky or mature sense of humor. Creative problem solving and imaginative expression.
They have emotional challenges.
Gifted children and adults have an intense inner world. They are hypervigilant to their environment and have a keen awareness of what others are doing, thinking, and feeling. As a result, they can pick up on things that others might miss and make connections more easily.
Giftedness seems like a blessing but may be a burden. Gifted individuals have learning differences, including divergent thinking, quirky humor, and a penchant for complexity, that set them apart. Openness to experience is a key personality trait found in association with giftedness.
There may also be gifted trauma, also known as gift-specific trauma, involved. Gifted trauma stems from childhood issues with feeling like you don't belong anywhere because of your gift.
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 may be more likely to experience existential depression, as their minds tend to be more attuned to contemplating the big life and death issues facing the world.
Even though the gifted are no more susceptible to mental illness than anyone else, some gifted children and teens struggle with overthinking, worry, or cautious alertness. Their nervous system seems wired for heightened reactivity. For some, obsessive thinking transitions into anxiety.
The problems gifted children sometimes face with socializing often stem from their asynchrony and educational setting. Asynchronous development, or uneven development, is often considered a core trait of giftedness. These students may be college age intellectually but still 12 in terms of their social skills.
Both giftedness and autism fall on a spectrum, so while there may be individuals who clearly fit into one box or another, some behaviors might be more ambiguous and require additional information, context, or professional opinions.
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.
When the conditions listed above do not exist, gifted adults will also suffer greatly. They will most likely experience high levels of stress, anxiety, agitation, depression and depletion. Major bouts of depression and suicidal thoughts and feelings are also not uncommon.
nobody else seems to feel like this.” Emotionally intense gifted people often experience intense inner conflict, self-criticism, anxiety and feelings of inferiority. The medical community tends to see these conflicts as symptoms and labels gifted people neurotic.
Many experts believe only 3 to 5 percent of the population is gifted, though some estimates reach 20 percent.
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.
Although there are no standard IQ levels of intellectual giftedness, some experts suggest the following IQ ranges: Mildly gifted: 115 to 129. Moderately gifted: 130 to 144. ighly gifted: 145 to 159.
According to Silverman, the overlap between giftedness and sensitivity can be best explained by the concept of overexcitability. This idea originates from Dabrowski's theory of positive disintegration, which suggests that certain people may experience stronger neurological reactions to stimuli.
Some studies showed that gifted children had lower anxiety scores than their non-gifted peers (15,16). For example, Guignard et al., (9) reported that gifted children display higher anxiety only when they did not have more perfectionism than their peers.
The State of U.S. Psychiatry and Mental Health
Yet sometimes being gifted effectively hides these same conditions. So, while some gifted kids are erroneously labeled and medicated for mental health disorders they do not have, others are unrecognized for learning or mental disorders they do have.
Emotional intensity is positively correlated with intelligence and so the higher the intellectual level, the more emotionally intense a gift will be. Emotional intensity is expressed by the gifted through a wide range of feelings, attachments.
ADHD AND GIFTEDNESS are sometimes described as having the same or similar characteristics. However, one diagnosis is considered a disability and one, a gift. Neither assumption is ideal in supporting the child identified with either ADHD, giftedness, or both, often referred to as twice exceptional or 2e.
Gifted kids turn into gifted adults, it's something you live with for your entire life. When adults forget about their own atypical wiring, they open themselves up to social issues, and miss opportunities to continue growing.
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.
Empathy for others is a common hallmark of many gifted children. They may have an unusual sensitivity for the emotional distress of their friends and an unusual ability to help them resolve their emotional conflicts.