This article examines the nature and extent of depressive disorders in highly gifted adolescents based on current literature and data gathered from a phenomenological study, focus groups, and clinical records. Two case studies and clinical examples document the capacity of some highly gifted adolescents to mask even severe symptoms. Several factors appeared to contribute to this masking phenomenon, including shame for being incapacitated and unable to resolve their dilemma; depression's signature cognitive confusion, which disengaged their coping mechanisms; and fear of harming others with their toxic state. These findings raise questions about the efficacy of quantitative research instruments to determine actual cases of depressive disorder in this subgroup, as well as current research estimates of depression in the highly gifted population.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic & statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
2.
AryD.JacobsL.Razavieh. (1990). Introduction to research in education (4th ed). New York: Harcourt, Brace, and Jovanovich.
ClaridgeG.PryorR.WatkinsG. (1998). Sounds from the bell jar. Cambridge, MA: Malor Books.
5.
ColemanL.CrossT. (2000) Social-emotional development and the personal experience of giftedness. In HellerK.MönksF. J.SternbergR.SubotnikR. (Eds), International handbook of giftedness and talent (2nd ed., pp. 203–212). New York: Elsevier.
6.
CytrynL.McKnewD. (1998). Growing up sad. New York: Norton.
7.
DabrowskiK. (1967). Personality shaping through positive disintegration. New York: Little, Brown.
8.
DabrowskiK. (1972). Psychoneuroses is not an illness. London: Gryf.
9.
DauberS. L.BenbowC. P. (1990). Aspects of personality and peer relations for suicide prevention among gifted youth. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 13, 212–228.
10.
GalluciN. T.MiddletonG.KlineA. (1999). Intellectually superior children and behavioral problems and competence. Roeper Review, 22, 18–21.
11.
GreensponT. S.ParkerW. D.SchulerP. A. (2000). The authors' dialogue. Journal of Secondary Gifted Education, 11, 209–214.
12.
GrossM. U. M. (1993). Exceptionally gifted children. London: Routledge.
HollingworthL. (1942). Children above 180 IQ Stanford-Binet: Origin and development. Yonkers-on- Hudson, NY: World Books.
15.
JacksonP. S. (1995). Bright star, black sky: Origins and manifestations of the depressed state in the lived experience of the gifted adolescent: A phenomenological study. Unpublished masters thesis, Vermont College, Norwich University.
16.
JacksonP. S. (1998). Bright star—Black sky: A phenomenological study of depression as a window into the psyche of the gifted adolescent. Roeper Review, 20, 215–221.
17.
JamisonK. R. (1993). Touched with fire: Manic-depressive illness and the artistic temperament. New York: The Free Press.
18.
JamisonK. R. (1995). An unquiet mind. New York: Knopf.
19.
KarpD. A. (1996). Speaking of sadness. Oxford: Oxford Press.
20.
KendlerK. S.KesslerR. C.NealeM. C.HeathA. C.EavesL. J. (1993). The prediction of major depression in women: Toward an integrated etiologic model. American Journal of Psychiatry, 150, 1139–1148.
21.
KleinD. F.WenderP. H. (1993). Understanding depression: A complete guide to its diagnosis & treatment. New York: Oxford University Press.
22.
LernerJ. A. (1984). The import of temperament for psychosocial functioning: Tests of goodness of fit model. Merril-Plamer Quarterly, 30, 177–188.
23.
LewisH. B. (1979). Shame in depression and hysteria. In IzardC. (Ed.), Emotions in personality and psychopathology (pp. 369–396). New York: Plenum Press.
24.
LittleC. (2002). Depression and the gifted child. Understanding our Gifted, 14(3), 12–14.
25.
LoveckyD. V. (1994). Exceptionally gifted children: Different minds. Roeper Review, 17, 116–120.
26.
MahlerM. S. (1972). Rapprochement subphase of the separation-individuation process. Psychoanalytic Quarterly, 41, 487–506.
27.
MeckstrothE. (2002). A review of The Social and Emotional Development of Gifted Children: What Do We Know?Gifted Education Communicator, 33(1), 50–52.
28.
NeihartM. (1999). The impact of giftedness on psychological well-being. Roeper Review, 22, 10–17
29.
NeihartM. (2002). Gifted children and depression. In NeihartM.ReisS.RobinsonN.MoonS. (Eds.), The social and emotional development of gifted children: What do we know? (pp. 93–102). Waco, TX: Prufrock Press.
30.
PetersonJ. S. (1997a). Bright, tough, and resilient—and not in a gifted program. Journal of Secondary Gifted Education, 8, 121–136.
31.
PetersonJ. S. (1997b). Naming gifted children: An example of unintended “reproduction.” Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 21, 82–100.
32.
PetersonJ. S. (1999). Gifted—through whose cultural lens? An application of the postpositivistic mode of inquiry. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 22, 354–383.
33.
PiechowskiM. (2002). Experiencing in a higher key: Dabrowski's theory of and for the gifted. Gifted Education Communicator, 33(1), 31–36.
34.
RobertsS. M.LovettS. B. (1994). Examining the “F” in gifted: Academically gifted adolescents' physiological and affective responses to scholastic failure. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 17, 241–259.
35.
RobinsonN. M. (2002). Introduction. In NeihartM.ReisS. M.RobinsonN. M.MoonS. M. (Eds.), The social and emotional development of gifted children: What do we know? (pp. xi–xxiv). Waco, TX: Prufrock Press.
RoedellW. C. (1986). Socioemotional vulnerabilities of young gifted children. Journal of Children in Contemporary Society, 18(3-4), 17–29.
38.
SilvermanL. K. (1983). Issues in affective development of the gifted. In VanTassel-BaskaJ. (Ed.), A practical guide to counseling the gifted in a school setting (pp. 6–21). Reston, VA: Council for Exceptional Children.
39.
SilvermanL. K. (1992). Counseling the gifted individual. Counseling and Human Development, 25(4), 1–14.
40.
SilvermanL. K. (1993). Counseling the gifted and talented. Denver: Love.
41.
SolomonA. (2001). The noonday demon. New York: Scribner.
42.
StyronW. (1990). Darkness visible: A memoir of madness. New York: Random House.
43.
ThomasA.ChessS. (1977). Temperament and development. New York: Bruner & Mazel.
44.
TolanS. S. (1998). The Lemming Condition: Moral asynchrony and the isolated self. Roeper Review, 20, 211–214.
45.
WechslerD. (1991). Wechsler intelligence scale for children-III. San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation.
