Gifted Trauma
Being gifted may sound fun. Imagine being able to see new solutions, or learn quickly, or be able to process large amounts of information at speed. But as with all good things, it comes with some really quite distressing downsides.
As with any minoritised group, being the only ones in the room who think and feel differently doesn’t mean you are going to be liked or accepted. Gifted people have for centuries been ridiculed, othered, dismissed, ignored, and underestimated. They can be pressured to conform, especially at school. When they are unable to because they are bored, they are often shamed by the very people who should be helping them access their full potential, teachers, parents, or managers.
There is also the risk of exploitation. Their enthusiasm for a subject, their light up a room joy of discovery and exploration may make them more vulnerable to being exploited. Remember the twice-exceptionality of giftedness. Just because you are highly gifted in one area, doesn’t mean you are gifted in all areas. Gifted people can often find their work being copied, or find they have somehow been manipulated into sharing their thoughts and reflections for free or without credit.
And if you are gifted and highly sensitive, or twice exceptional, or your giftedness is around the senses and emotions, you are going to feel the effect of trauma intensely. Your neurotransmitters may also be insufficient, causing increased changes in mood or depressed mood.
Then there’s also the link of chronic stress and trauma on the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal axis, with overactivation of stress hormones leading to a chronic release of cortisol. Sustained high levels of cortisol within the body can have lasting damaging effects including inflammation, a further inhibitory effect on the synthesis of neurotransmitters, and damaging neurons.
So giftedness - while it has positives - can also be an extremely challenging space for neurodivergent people to navigate.
If you have experienced any of the above, or suspect you or your child may be gifted or twice exceptional, why not look into getting an assessment done?
You can find everything you need to know on our assessment pages. Or you can drop us an email at hello@divergentlife.co.uk and we can send you everything you need to get started.
Please note, our current waiting times are around 4-6 weeks to start an assessment. They are multi-stage and complex scientifically valid diagnostic processes, and take around 6-8 weeks to complete.
