In today鈥檚 media and news, I feel like I hear more stories about the benefits of sharing emotions and discussing mental health than I ever did growing up. This is a wonderful thing and through popular media including television and movie portrayals and celebrity confessions, we are growing more accustomed to talking about historically taboo or just unknown topics surrounding emotions and mental health.

With great strides being made in these conversations, it seems important to discuss emotional intensity among our country鈥檚 brightest, and sometimes most vulnerable, youth.

The 聽has a great explanation for why gifted youth tend to experience more intense emotions, saying, 鈥淚ntellectual complexity goes hand in hand with emotional depth. Just as gifted children’s thinking is more complex and has more depth than other children’s, so too are their emotions more complex and more intense.鈥�

Gifted youth are often more aware of and affected by their surroundings. Children who feel things with great intensity experience the world in a different way than their non-gifted peers. Emotional or physical reactions to events can last longer for gifted children. These experiences of heightened stimulation observed in many gifted individuals are referred to as intensities or聽Overexcitabilities. Polish psychologist identified five overexcitabilities and their associated behaviors:

1. Psychomotor: Characterized primarily by high levels of energy
2. Sensual: Characterized by a heightened awareness of all five senses: sight, smell, taste, touch and hearing
3. Emotional: Characterized by extreme emotional sensitivity
4. Intellectual: Characterized by deep curiosity and thought
5. Imaginational: Characterized by vivid imagination and visualization

The first step in managing intense emotions is identifying and understanding them. If you think your child exhibits overexcitabilities, talk to your child about how they feel and react to certain situations. Healthy discussions around expressing emotions make everyone feel safer and more understood. Starting these discussions at a young age enforces good habits for the future.

How exactly do these overexcitabilities manifest themselves? It varies from child to child, but there are common associated with all five overexcitabilities.

• Psychomotor responses can include pacing, rapid talk or use of hand gestures
• Sensual responses can include sensitivities to clothing textures, food tastes or a need for physical displays of affection like cuddles or hugs
• Emotional responses can include intense feelings of empathy or compassion, depression, anxiety or loneliness
• Imaginational responses can include visualizations, use of metaphorical speech, dreaming or magical thinking
• Intellectual responses can include constant curiosity, deep thinking or a propensity towards solving puzzles and problems

Understanding what emotional intensities are and the behaviors associated with them can help with misdiagnosis or just plain misunderstanding. While some of the more extreme behaviors associated with overexcitabilities can be worrisome for a parent or educator, such as a child鈥檚 depression or anxiety, there can also be a wonderful bright side to overexcitabilities.

Some of the benefits of overexcitabilities can include:

• Empathy and compassion towards others
• A desire to solve major world problems
• Creativity
• A high sense of self-awareness
• Enthusiasm
• High energy

Intense emotions don鈥檛 always need to be feared or regulated. They are what make so many gifted children wonderfully unique. However, for the times that overintesities do need to be managed, here are some strategies:

• Meditation
• Yoga
• Outdoor physical activities such as going on walks, hikes or playing at a park
• Quiet reflection time
• Journaling or drawing
• Encourage discussions about how your child feels and why they feel the way they do

I hope this blog post helps with identifying and managing intense emotions in a gifted child. 优蜜视频鈥檚 also hosts a list of books, articles, programs and professionals that can be used as additional sources of information about overexcitabilities.

The end of one year and the beginning of a new one always bring about the opportunity to reflect, as well as make resolutions for the future. At the end of 2016, 优蜜视频 staff took some time to look back our work, our programs, and some of the most memorable moments of the year:

鈥淥ne of the highlights of the year for me was how quickly and enthusiastically the 30 new 2016 CDB Scholars exchanged e-mails with each other, introducing themselves to their classmates with gusto鈥攁nd including ME as part of the thread.聽 It didn鈥檛 seem to matter whether a Scholar was an introvert or extrovert; they all dove in and freely talked about their passions in their own unique voices.聽 It has been a delight to get to know this class and help them navigate their way through each individual high school application process.鈥�

-Bonnie Raskin, Program Manager, Caroline D. Bradley Scholarship

鈥淒uring the summer, I had the chance to take the lunch shift at Academy, a free hour for kids who take classes all day to eat and play. It was a great opportunity to talk to some bright young minds about their interests, see them interact and develop friendships, and even play some games with them. Since my work at 优蜜视频 is more behind-the-scenes, I don鈥檛 get as many chances to interact with kids in our programs, so that lunch hour was a nice treat in the middle of a hectic season.鈥�

-Nicole LaChance, Marketing and Communications Coordinator

鈥淥ne of my favorite moments at camp (Yunasa Michigan) this year was participating in a music improvisation workshop led by counselor Chris Jones. Everyone did an amazing job improvising rhymes and singing along. Yunasa is such supportive and inviting community that even the shyest participants loosened up and got into the game.

–Morgan Carrion, Assistant to the President

鈥淚 was delighted to receive this note from an EXPLORE parent during the program鈥�.鈥�

After going through a year of rigorous academic preparation for various AP and other college level tests, it can be taxing on their curiosity and zeal to learn as college admission requirements weigh heavily on their mind. It is a welcome change to have real life exploration and training which rekindled his intellect and he is thoroughly enjoying the experience.

-Ni帽a Abonal, Program Coordinator, EXPLORE

鈥淥ne of my favorite times of year is always the staff retreat.聽 This is the time the team really connects on a deeper level, where lifelong bonds are formed and the direction of 优蜜视频 is solidified for the coming year.聽 I sort of think of it as the staff鈥檚 own Yunasa.聽 While each year there is dancing and singing at the end of the retreat, similar to 鈥淭he Dance鈥� at Yunasa/West, this year I felt that the team got to the heart of something intrinsic in our experience of working at 优蜜视频; and that is, the whole reason we do what we do.聽 We came together and defined the underlying truth behind WHY we are each here at 优蜜视频, and I feel we are a stronger team because of it.聽 I am excited to see this clarity influence all of our actions, efforts and communications with the children we serve and their families, and with each other.聽 2017 will be an exciting year for all of us!鈥�

-Zadra Rose Ibanez, Director of Operations

These are just a few of the wonderful moments we shared with 优蜜视频 participants, parents, and colleagues in 2016. As we begin 2017, we resolve to continue to work to provide the highest level of services for gifted youth while strengthening the bonds of the 优蜜视频 community.

Please share your memorable 优蜜视频 moments from 2016 or tell us your New Year鈥檚 resolutions for 2017!

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