Overexcitability and the Gifted Overexcitability and the Gifted by Sharon Lind A small amount of definitive research and a great deal of naturalistic observation have led to the belief that intensity, sensitivity and overexcitability are primary characteristics of the highly gifted. These observations are supported by parents and teachers who notice distinct behavioral and constitutional differences between highly gifted children and their peers. The work of Kazimierz Dabrowski, (1902-1980), provides an excellent framework with which to understand these characteristics. OVEREXCITABILITIES Overexcitabilities are inborn intensities indicating a heightened ability to respond to stimuli. PSYCHOMOTOR OVEREXCITABILITY Psychomotor OE is a heightened excitability of the neuromuscular system. Allow time for physical or verbal activity, before, during, and after normal daily and school activities-these individuals love to “do” and need to “do.” Show how to find the answers to questions. References Dabrowski, K. (1972).
Dabrowski’s Theory and Existential Depression in Gifted Children and Adults Webb, J, Ph.D. When people undergo a great trauma or other unsettling event—they have lost a job or a loved one dies, for example—their understanding of themselves or of their place in the world often disintegrates, and they temporarily "fall apart," experiencing a type of depression referred to as existential depression. It's very hard to keep your spirits up. You've got to keep selling yourself a bill of goods, and some people are better at lying to themselves than others. If you face reality too much, it kills you. ~ Woody Allen When people undergo a great trauma or other unsettling event—they have lost a job or a loved one dies, for example—their understanding of themselves or of their place in the world often disintegrates, and they temporarily "fall apart," experiencing a type of depression referred to as existential depression. Background But long before I knew about Dabrowski’s theory, I knew about and understood existential depression. Existential Issues and Giftedness Life Meaning
Dabrowski's by Stephanie S. Tolan Written for Hoagies' Gifted Education Page, February, 1999 Dabrowski talked about OE's - over-excitabilities ("superstimulatabilities"), and how the gifted were extremely sensitive in a variety of areas. It's a stimulus-response difference from the norms. It means that in these 5 areas a person reacts more strongly than normal for a longer period than normal to a stimulus that may be very small. The five areas are: Psychomotor This is often thought to mean that the person needs lots of movement and athletic activity, but can also refer to the issue of having trouble smoothing out the mind's activities for sleeping. Sensual Here's the "cut the label out of the shirt" demand, the child who limps as if with a broken leg when a sock seam is twisted. Imaginational These are the dreamers, poets, "space cadets" who are strong visual thinkers, use lots of metaphorical speech. Intellectual Here's the usual definition of "giftedness." Emotional
Overexcitability Overexcitabilities are sometimes used to help predict "giftedness" in both children and adults: The more "excited" or the more stimulated a sense is in a person, the more susceptible or prone his brain is to react in an extreme manner to anything that triggers it, thus the possibilities of expansion in ways of learning are increased in this person. Gifted people appear to be very in touch with their 5 senses possibly making them, in a sense, more 'global' than others.
Positive Disintegration The Theory of Positive Disintegration (TPD) by Kazimierz Dąbrowski is a theory of personality development. Unlike mainstream psychology, Dąbrowski's theoretical framework views psychological tension and anxiety as necessary for growth. These "disintegrative" processes are therefore seen as "positive," whereas people who fail to go through positive disintegration may remain for their entire lives in a state of "primary integration." Unlike some other theories of development such as Erikson's stages of psychosocial development, it is not assumed that even a majority of people progress through all levels. Dąbrowski's theory[edit] Kazimierz Dąbrowski (1902–1980), a Polish psychiatrist and psychologist, developed the Theory of Positive Disintegration over his lifetime of clinical and academic work. Dąbrowski's theory of personality development emphasized several major features including: Factors in development[edit] Development potential[edit] Overexcitability Abilities and talents The third factor