Dabrowski's Intellectual Overexcitability of Gifted Children

The intellectual overexcitability is one of Dabrowski's supersensitivities common in gifted children. Although this overexcitability is characterized by an intense and accelerated mental activity, it is not concerned with academic achievement. Instead, it is concerned with a love of truth and quest for understanding.

Signs of this overexcitability are a high level of curiosity, deep concentration, the capacity for sustained intellectual effort, and a wide variety of interests. Children with this overexcitability tend to be avid readers in their quest for knowledge. They are also excellent problem solvers and love to strategize.

These children also ask deep and probing questions, questions about God, death, and the meaning of life, for example. They are theoretical and introspective and can be preoccupied with certain problems, often those involving moral issues.

People often believe that intellectual overexcitability is the same as high intelligence, but it's not. Children with intellectual overexcitability tend to be interested in cultural events, social issues, and learning new theories. Children without these overexcitability or with a lesser degree of it, tend not to have such interests and may instead excel in practical intelligence.