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Overexcitabilities in Gifted Children

By Lesley Sword

Kazimierz Dabrowski (1902 - 1980) was a Polish Psychiatrist and Psychologist who worked with creative adults and adolescents. He proposed the Theory of Positive Disintegration which maintains that crises and disintegration are necessary for psychological growth and the attainment of a personality ideal.

Dabrowski believed that inner conflict is a developmental rather than a degenerative sign ie advanced development requires a breakdown of existing psychological structures in order to form higher, more evolved structures.

Overexcitabilities play a central part in Dabrowski's theory of advanced development. Overexcitability is a sensitivity of the nervous system, an expanded awareness of and a heightened capacity to respond to stimuli such as noise, light, smell, touch etc.

The term �overexcitability� conveys the idea that this stimulation of the nervous system is well beyond the usual or average in intensity and duration.

Michael Piechowski, who worked with Dabrowski, explains the overexcitabilities as an abundance of physical, sensual, creative, intellectual and emotional energy that can result in creative endeavours as well as advanced emotional and ethical development in adulthood. He says that the overexcitabilities feed, enrich, empower and amplify talent.

Overexcitabilities are assumed to be innate: a genetic predisposition of the nervous system to respond more and more intensely to life's stimuli. This causes those with strong overexcitabilities to have more intense than usual experiences of life.

Overexcitabilities appear in five forms:

Psychomotor - surplus of energy: rapid speech, pressure for action, restlessness impulsive actions, nervous habits & tics, competitiveness, sleeplessness.

Sensual � sensory and aesthetic pleasure: heightened sensory awareness eg sights, smells, tastes, textures, sounds, appreciation of beautiful objects, music, nature, sensitivity to foods and pollutants, intense dislike of certain clothing, craving for pleasure.

Intellectual � learning, problem solving: curiosity, concentration, theoretical & analytical thinking, questioning, introspection, love of learning and problem solving, moral concern, thinking about personal and social moral values.

Imaginational � vivid imagination: creative & inventive, a rich and active fantasy life, superb visual memory, elaborate dreams, day dreams, love of poetry, music and drama, fears of the unknown, mixing of truth and fantasy, great sense of humour.

Emotional � intensity of feeling: complex emotions, extremes of emotion, empathy with others, sensitivity in relationships, strong memory for feelings, difficulty adjusting to change, fears and anxieties, inhibition, timidity, shyness, self-judgment, feelings of inadequacy and inferiority, heightened awareness of injustice and hypocrisy.

References
Piechowski, M. (1999) Overexcitabilities. In Encyclopedia of Creativity Volume 2. M. A. Runco & S.R. Pritzker Eds. Academic press. Pp325-334

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Copyright 2002, Lesley Sword.
Properly attributed, this material may be freely reproduced and disseminated.

This causes those with strong overexcitabilities to have more intense than usual experiences of life.


That's a quote from the above. A few of us here can relate to that.

I knew about a lot of the above but it's new for me to hear about the senses. I just took my DS to the eye Doctor and they said he is sentive to light. He is a picky eater. Maybe he is very sensitive to taste too.

My GD has traits of all of the forms of overexcitabilities - makes life very interesting and challenging.

Really great reference! Thank you

The over excitabilities list makes me understand more that these strong feeling/actions are just such apart of what they are born with. It gives me more understanding to accept my children's feelings and help them learn to deal. It less about being uncooperative.

Anybody have any tips for helping young kids deal with their overexcitabilities - especially the emotional?

I think girls like to talk about their day right after school and boys are better to do it at bed time. But see what works for your family.

I have a routine with my DS that we talk about his day before bed - just one on one. I try to listen, not judge and not give advice unless asked. (that' hard for me) Talking is a way of dealing with those feelings, making feelings smaller, talking helps feelings to be external, releasing some frustration.

I have a deal with my kids: they can come to me and say this is a Mommy listening time and I agree not to say anything unless they ask.

I think it helpful to understand they are not being bad. They just have not learned well enough yet how to do the right thing.

A book Children are from heaven has helped me. Especially the parts about sensitive children.

Ex.
how playground time was today?
"Not good"
why?
"There were too many kids in the football game and I couldn't even tell who was on my team"
Any ideas on how you could make it better?
"I could bring in my own football and get another game going"
That sounds like a good idea.

Any good books out there for the emotional overexcitability??

This one creates the most trouble at school.

I just came across this again and thought it might be helpful with some of the new people. check out the 1st post.

Also by Piechowski, "Mellow Out They Tell Me...If I Only Could". I just started reading it, but it goes through all the sensitivities and overexcitablities of Gifted children.

My DS9 has heightened sensitivities in just about every area. When he was little, 3-5, we had a special place set up in his classroom for him to go when he needed to disengage from the group. Too much stimulation and he would start to meltdown. The teachers would see him start to spiral and would gently suggest his safe spot. Now at age 9, he asks to be excused from class and he goes to the nurses clinic or sits outside the classroom.