Gifted Children: Emotionally Immature or Emotionally Intense?
Sunday, January 25th, 2009
Emotional Intensity
Descriptions of emotional intensity experienced by gifted people include the following:
- flooded by unexpected waves of joy
a feeling of being incredibly alive
so happy that I want to laugh and cry or be silent and shout all at the same time
beautiful music or the beauty of nature can move me to tears
even the greatest pain has been ecstatic and full of life.
These same people describe their inner experiences of emotional intensity as:
- moments of disequilibrium and estrangement
the familiar suddenly feels alien
feelings of unreality
intense feelings of difference
rapid shifts in perspective
dissatisfaction with self
inner turmoil
feeling of being overwhelmed
despair. (Piechowski 1998)
Gifted children: Emotionally immature or emotionally intense?