What Are Dabrowski's Five

Overexcitabilities in Gifted Children?

Why gifted kids may seem to be highly sensitive
By Carol Bainbridge Updated February 25, 2017

Jamie Grill/Blend Images/Getty Images

Polish psychologist Kazimierz Dabrowski identified five areas in which

children exhibit intense behaviors, also known as "overexcitabilities" or
"supersensitivities." They are psychomotor, sensual, emotional,
intellectual, and imaginational. Gifted children tend to have multiple
intensities, although one is usually dominant.

Does your child complain about the seams in his socks? Put her hands over
her ears when the movie starts in the movie theater?

Have trouble sitting still? Get moved almost to tears by a piece of music or
work of art? These are signs of overexcitabilities.
Psychomotor

The psychomotor overexcitability is common in gifted children. It is

characterized primarily by high levels of energy. Children with this OE
(overexcitability) seem to constantly be on the move. Even as infants, they
need less sleep than other children. As adults, they are able to work long
hours without tiring.

Children with this OE also may be misdiagnosed as ADHD. But while they
can be active, they are quite capable of focused concentration unless they
are insufficiently mentally stimulated. The lack of mental stimulation can
be a problem for these children in school.

The primary sign of this intensity is a surplus of energy. Children with a

dominant psychomotor overexcitability are often misdiagnosed with
ADHD since characteristics are similar. They may include:

Rapid speech
Impulsive behavior
Competitiveness
Compulsive talking
Compulsive organizing
Nervous habits and tics
Preference for fast action and sports
Physical expression of emotions
Sleeplessness

Sensual

The primary sign of this intensity is a heightened awareness of all five

senses: sight, smell, taste, touch, and hearing.

Children with a dominant sensual overexcitability can get sick from the
smell of certain foods or, as toddlers, will hate to walk on grass in their
bare feet. The pleasure they get from the tastes and textures of some foods
may cause them to overeat.
If your child has sensual overexcitability, you may notice several of these
traits:

Appreciation of beauty, whether in writing, music, art or nature. Includes

love of objects like jewelry
Sensitive to smells, tastes, or textures of foods
Sensitivity to pollution
Tactile sensitivity (bothered by feel of some materials on the skin, clothing
tags)
Craving for pleasure
Need or desire for comfort

Intellectual

This intensity is the one most recognized in gifted children. It is

characterized by activities of the mind. Children who lead with this
intensity seem to be thinking all the time and want answers to deep
questions. Sometimes their need for answers will get them in trouble in
school when their questioning of the teacher can look like disrespectful
challenging.

They may exhibit several of these traits:

Deep curiosity
Love of knowledge and learning
Love of problem-solving
Avid reading
Asking of probing questions
Theoretical thinking
Analytical thinking
Independent thinking
Concentration, ability to maintain intellectual effort

Imaginational

The primary sign of this intensity is the free play of the imagination. Their
vivid imaginations can cause them to visualize the worst possibility in any
situation. It can keep them from taking chances or getting involved in new
situations. You may notice that your child exhibits:

Vivid dreams
Fear of the unknown
Good sense of humor
Magical thinking
Love of poetry, music, and drama
Love of fantasy
Daydreaming
Imaginary friends
Detailed visualization

Emotional

The primary sign of this intensity is exceptional emotional sensitivity.

Children with a strong emotional overexcitability are sometimes
mistakenly believed to have bipolar disorder or other emotional problems
and disorders. They are often the children about whom people will say,
"He's too sensitive for his own good." Your child may show these traits:

Extremes of emotion
Anxiety
Feelings of guilt and sense of responsibility
Feelings of inadequacy and inferiority
Timidity and shyness
Loneliness
Concern for others
Heightened sense of right and wrong or injustice and hypocrisy
Strong memory of feelings
Problems adjusting to change
Depression
Need for security
Physical response to emotions (stomach aches caused by anxiety, for
example)
Wrapping Up

You can get a better understanding of your gifted child if you recognize
their intensities. This understanding can help you to become a more
effective and supportive parent. For example, if your child is emotionally
intense, you know that she will have a tough time "just ignoring" teasing or
bullying. She may need extra help in managing her reactions to hurtful
behavior in others.

These sensitivities are part of a larger theory, the Theory of Positive

Disintegration, which you can read more about on The Positive
Disintegration Web site.

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Tetra Images - Jamie Grill/Brand X Pictures/Getty Images

Updated June 29, 2016

The emotional overexcitability is probably the most significant of Kazimier

Dabrowski's five over-excitabilities. The other four are the intellectual, the
imaginational, the sensual, and the psychomotor. Dabrowski was a Polish
psychologist who saw how differently people behaved in Poland during
World War II. Some could commit acts of unspeakable cruelty while others
risked their own lives to save others.

From his observations, he eventually developed his Theory of Positive

Disintegration. These over-excitabilities, sometimes called super
sensitivities are part of that theory.

What is Emotional Overexcitability?

The emotional supersensitive is the most easily recognized by parents of
gifted children and others because children who have it display heightened
and intense emotions and emotional responses to events and experiences.

Children with this OE have the capacity for great emotional depth. They
develop strong attachments to people, places, and things. Because of their
emotional intensity, they are often accused of over-reacting or being
melodramatic. However, the emotions they feel are real. The molehills to
them are truly mountains.

The emotional OE is also manifested in a deep concern for others. Even

gifted toddlers high in this OE can show concern over a baby's cries or over
the distress of a fellow toddler who has been hurt or become upset.

Not only do these children empathize with others, but they feel a
connection to animals as well. These children may become vegetarians at a
young age because they cannot bear to eat what was once a living creature.

Children do not grow out of this sensitivity. A child with intense emotional
feelings will experience the same depth of emotion as an adult.

The Upside of the Emotional Overexcitability

Those with the emotional OE can sense and perceive things that others
may miss or can't even imagine. They seem to be tuned into the world and
to others in ways that provide them with a rich depth of understanding an
appreciation. They are often sought out by friends and acquaintances for
help and advice because of the deep connections they form.

Because of their intense feelings and empathy for others, those with
emotional OE tend to form strong friendships. Their feelings for their
friends are deep and they will be among the most loyal of friends.

Those with the emotional OE are also more likely than others to be aware
of their feelings, and that awareness allows them to create deeply moving
works of art, whether it be in writing, music, acting, or art.
The Downside of the Emotional Overexcitability

While those who have the emotional super sensitivity have deep empathy
for others, they have little sympathy for themselves. They are highly self-
critical and have a deep sense of responsibility - even for things they are
not responsible for.

This self-criticism and sense of responsibility can cause anxiety, guilt, and
a feeling of being a failure. The levels of anxiety they experience can
interfere with simple tasks like home chores or even completing
homework. They can also develop psychosomatic symptoms like stomach
aches or suffer from depression.

The depression that those with emotional OE often experience is

existential depression, which means that they become depressed over
issues concerning the basic questions of life: death, poverty, war, and
disease, for example. Bouts of existential depression can be caused by
some specific experience, but they are just as likely to arise spontaneously.

Children with the emotional OE also have a hard time adjusting to change
and can experience high levels of anxiety when they are put in new
situations or unfamiliar surroundings. They may also be shy and slow to
participate in social activities.

What You Can Do as a Parent

Perhaps the most important thing you can do for your emotionally
sensitive child is to accept all his or her feelings, regardless of intensity.
Your first response might be to want to tell your child to stop over-reacting
or stop making mountains out of molehills. But remember, those molehills
really do seem like mountains to the highly sensitive child.

Avoid minimizing or dismissing your child's feelings. For example, don't

tell her that she's "too sensitive for her own good" or that "everything will
be okay." Your child isn't choosing to be more sensitive than you might be
comfortable with, nor is she going to believe that everything will be okay,
even if you're positive they will be - and can you really be that certain?

Listen to what your child has to say without passing judgment. Sometimes
your child just wants to be understood. He doesn't want a lecture or advice,
and he certainly doesn't want - or need - to feel judged. This is especially
true for little boys because they are so often expected to be less emotional
than little girls. Too often children with this OE are seen as weak,
particularly little boys. Avoid either criticizing your child for being
sensitive or protecting her from the world. Neither is helpful.

Help your child understand that his emotional supersensitivity is normal

for gifted children. This is one reason it is good to discuss giftedness with
your child. You can help your child use his intellect to work through and
understand those intense feelings. One way to do this is to create an
emotional response scale. Of course, you should work with your child to
create that scale when she's not upset. She can then think of what kind of
event would not be important (a 1) up to an event that would really be
horrible (10). Then when your child is upset, you can use that scale to help
her put the event into perspective.

Keep in mind that emotionally intense children can become frustrated and
upset when they are not physically capable of doing what they want to do.
For example, a three-year-old might envision a beautiful work of art, but
his fine motor skills are simply not developed sufficiently to allow him to
create it. Don't tell him it's okay. For him, it's not. But do praise his efforts
and emphasize his strengths.

Encourage your child to work through emotions by keeping a journal,

writing stories or poems, writing or playing music, creating a work of art,
or engaging in some physical activity, such as running or dancing. These
activities are great outlets for strong emotions.

Don't expect your child to be a little adult. Don't expect her to have the
kind of emotional control an adult would have just because she can
sometimes think and talk like one. On the other hand, avoid letting your
child get away with inappropriate behavior because he is upset. Breaking
rules should have consequences. However, they should not be punished
simply for having intense emotions. It's not the emotional response that is
the problem; it is the negative behavior. For example, a child should not
suffer any consequences for being emotionally upset, but should for
throwing a toy at someone because he's upset.

Sometimes, a child may not professional counseling. If you believe your

child might benefit from some counseling, be sure to find a counselor who
is familiar with giftedness and gifted children.

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