Emotional Overexcitability
When parents are asked to describe their gifted children, “sensitive” appears more frequently than any other trait (Silverman,1993). Sensitivity can take many forms:
When parents are asked to describe their gifted children, “sensitive” appears more frequently than any other trait (Silverman,1993). Sensitivity can take many forms:
- Feelings that are easily hurt
- Increased empathy and compassion for others
- Desire to be protective of others
- Tendency to cry easily
- Strong emotional response to criticism
Many gifted students tend to react strongly to sensory information -
smells, light, sounds, textures, tastes. This sensitivity manifests itself in these heightened and intense feelings, complex emotions (often at extremes) and identification with others feelings (empathy) (Piechowski, 1991 cited in Lind, 2001) as evident in the examples above. Other expressions of emotional overexcitability can include complex emotions, difficulty adjusting to new environments, a capacity for strong and deep attachments (to people, places and things); and even manifest in somatic responses such as stomach aches, blushing and perspiration. Some emotionally intense, gifted students display timidity or shyness. This sensitivity may also manifest in emotional reactions to situations or environmental stimuli such as reactions to sounds, temperature or a myriad of other environmental factors which may be present. Research has shown that these sensitivities should be taken into account when considering how to best cater for gifted students and their needs (Silverman, 2005 cited in Sword, 2008). Correlations exist between emotional intensity and intelligence indicating that the higher the intellectual level, the more emotionally intense the gifted child is likely to be (Gross, 1989)
The film Little Man Tate is the story of Fred Tate, a boy who is highly intellectually gifted. He experiences the highs and lows of his 'difference' and provides an excellent example of the ways in which many gifted individuals' experience emotional intensity.
Examples of this intensity include:
- Fred waking up at one point in the movie screaming for his mother, distraught about what he has learned about cortin, a gland secretion that can turn a young boy into an old man.
- When Damon, another gifted students, lashes out at both Fred and their teacher Jane, Fred is less concerned about himself than about how mean Damon is to Jane.
- Dede (Fred's mother) shares with Jane that Fred has ulcers due to his worries about problems he has read about, such as the depletion of the ozone layer and why innocent people are murdered.
