My smart and quirky son has several older gifted friends who he says are the only kids he feels like he can be himself around, but even they are not like him in some ways, so he also has online friends who make him feel like he is not alone. He and his online friends enjoy mmorpg (massive multiplayer online role playing games). He likes being able to create his own characters and it allows him to pretend he is strong in the areas he feels he is weak and he says nobody knows how he really is. So far he has not had a problem with depression, but there were times that he said things that made me worry that he might be depressed. I think my son might be at high risk for depression because of a family history and the fact that he is also twice exceptional, so I do worry about this sometimes.
My son is not like the rest of his family in some ways but he is able to use this "difference" in the jokes that he makes and I am so hoping that he can keep this ability because I think his sense of humor will help keep my son from developing depression.
He met most of his gifted friends through a musical theater class which seems to attract a lot of gifted kids.
