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Existential Depression in Gifted Children

davidsongifted.org

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Re: Existential Depression in Gifted Children

#171

Post by dan00 »

PavlovsCat wrote: post #114
skore wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But with the cosmic sadness there is no going up one level, it's all there to ponder and still real. No snapping out of it. There are two mechanisms to cope with this without discarding or distorting it. Both are linked to accepting and expanding the comical (and cosmic) smallness of our existences. The first one I actually learned recently from reading Stephensons Anathem (which made me wonder if I'm reading that…

Uhm. "Not giving a damn" doesn't cause depression I think. It's kinda the other way around? You know, caring too much and whatnot, or caring about things you can't change in a way as if you could. Personally, I find the heat death of the universe comforting. That is, considering human society as it is now: no matter what, there will be no boot stamping on a human face forever . Those who "become one with the dust" ca…

Thanks for your post. Sometimes HN can be such a boring and depressing place with all of its startup lottery.

Re: Existential Depression in Gifted Children

#172

Post by floobynewb »

chmike wrote: post #60
simonsarris wrote: post #31

While I've read a fair bit of existentialist works I've never seen this term, but I think I know what it means. I also think the article would be improved by just titling itself "Existential Depression". The narrow focus is odd, even if true, and might serve better as a footnote. There's the strangest feeling I come across from time to time, and I think "come across" is the only good way to describe it. Everyone has…

The article focus on gifted children because it is a particular problem since they can't share their thoughts and questions about it with friends. These questions are somehow comming up "too early" in life wrt to their capacity to cope with them. As adults we have collected enough data to be able to readjust our understanding of life in a sound way. The depression is the phase that follows the anger from not being ab…

I acutely remember this issue when I was maybe 10 - 14. I tried to talk to my parents about the sadness I was feeling in these areas, but I couldn't make them understand. I had no-one around me who understood what I was saying, no-one who could guide me through. It was a very difficult time and it took me into my late teens to really put these issues to bed.

Re: Existential Depression in Gifted Children

#173

Post by PavlovsCat »

skore wrote: post #156
PavlovsCat wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But neither is there a reason to believe they will be. Yes, I agree with that, I just didn't know how to put it. But still, the idea of complete autocratic slavery for a million years is such a bad scenario for me, that even just a small likelihood would be enough for me to welcome the fact that nothing lasts forever. Having that idea in a world where chickens are stuffed into dark rooms and have their beaks singed o…

To appropriate a quote from Adventure Time: Man, your view of the universe is pretty bleak .

Not so much of the universe, but of human history, yes. We have increasingly bigger and supposedly smarter structures we are embedded in, and the individual people move into the opposite direction. We are for the most part petty, alienated and deluded, and as long as we can inject other humans to numb ourselves from seeing that, I think we will.

Re: Existential Depression in Gifted Children

#174

Post by PavlovsCat »

dan00 wrote: post #171
PavlovsCat wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Uhm. "Not giving a damn" doesn't cause depression I think. It's kinda the other way around? You know, caring too much and whatnot, or caring about things you can't change in a way as if you could. Personally, I find the heat death of the universe comforting. That is, considering human society as it is now: no matter what, there will be no boot stamping on a human face forever . Those who "become one with the dust" ca…

Thanks for your post. Sometimes HN can be such a boring and depressing place with all of its startup lottery.

No need to thank me for indulging myself, thanks for reading it, and even more importantly, for getting something positive out of it :) And to be fair, HN is also the first place I've personally experienced on the web where breaking out into rather large ad hoc rants that go all over the place does not lead to eye rolling automatically. So instead of being frustrating and pointless, letting out a bunch of associated and bottled up thoughts in this way actually feels good, and helps me order my own thoughts as well. So I'm not just being polite when I thank you instead; I have these thoughts either way, but actually being heard means more to me than I would have thought.

Re: Existential Depression in Gifted Children

#175

Post by dan00 »

PavlovsCat wrote: post #174
dan00 wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for your post. Sometimes HN can be such a boring and depressing place with all of its startup lottery.

No need to thank me for indulging myself, thanks for reading it, and even more importantly, for getting something positive out of it :) And to be fair, HN is also the first place I've personally experienced on the web where breaking out into rather large ad hoc rants that go all over the place does not lead to eye rolling automatically. So instead of being frustrating and pointless, letting out a bunch of associated…

"So I'm not just being polite when I thank you instead; I have these thoughts either way, but actually being heard means more to me than I would have thought."

Well, it's like a hug, having someone that really sees you and shares your feelings. :)

Re: Existential Depression in Gifted Children

#176

Post by eli_gottlieb »

PavlovsCat wrote: post #152
eli_gottlieb wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

where there is no reason to believe power, control and deception will not be absolute and insubvertible one day But neither is there a reason to believe they will be. If the universe has no teleology, that means it does not inevitably tend towards evil.

But neither is there a reason to believe they will be. Yes, I agree with that, I just didn't know how to put it. But still, the idea of complete autocratic slavery for a million years is such a bad scenario for me, that even just a small likelihood would be enough for me to welcome the fact that nothing lasts forever. Having that idea in a world where chickens are stuffed into dark rooms and have their beaks singed o…

Well then maybe people shouldn't have deliberately dismantled social democracy to the thunderous cry of "MUH FREEDOMZ!"

Re: Existential Depression in Gifted Children

#177

Post by PavlovsCat »

dan00 wrote: post #175
PavlovsCat wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No need to thank me for indulging myself, thanks for reading it, and even more importantly, for getting something positive out of it :) And to be fair, HN is also the first place I've personally experienced on the web where breaking out into rather large ad hoc rants that go all over the place does not lead to eye rolling automatically. So instead of being frustrating and pointless, letting out a bunch of associated…

"So I'm not just being polite when I thank you instead; I have these thoughts either way, but actually being heard means more to me than I would have thought." Well, it's like a hug, having someone that really sees you and shares your feelings. :)

Hah, that's very true :)

Re: Existential Depression in Gifted Children

#178

Post by dsugarman »

parts don't make a lot of sense, not every gifted child is trying to spend every waking hour on improving their talents. I don't know a child that doesn't enjoy play..

I find that a lot of gifted children are opposed to authority, which causes frustration with non-stimulating class work assigned by poor teachers.

Re: Existential Depression in Gifted Children

#179

Post by gurvinder »

molbioguy wrote: post #100

Giftedness is misunderstood. That even highly educated audiences don't get this is evident in some of the comments here. Giftedness is terribly named. It is more affliction than blessing. Giftedness is rare. Gifted kids are not the same as brilliant high achievers. They have high IQ's but are also underachievers (by regular standards, not some elevated bar) and often dropouts. They should be highly successful but are…

I have one gifted son and another brilliant son, and I really understand what you mean. I can see these differences quite clearly in my sons. Giftedness is not same as having very high IQ, it has its own characteristics which are often overshadowed by the high IQ.

Re: Existential Depression in Gifted Children

#180

Post by molbioguy »

tokenadult wrote: post #157
molbioguy wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The narrow focus is odd, even if true, and might serve better as a footnote. Not odd at all. The concentration or severity of existential depression in gifted children is well documented if not well known. And Jim Webb, the author, has devoted a good deal of his life (30+ years) to understanding the needs of and helping the gifted, with a focus on gifted children [1]. He also founded SENG (Supporting Emotional Needs…

The concentration or severity of existential depression in gifted children is well documented if not well known. Where is there any evidence WHATEVER that the severity of existential depression is any different for gifted people than it is for anybody else? I know Jim Webb, and I'm pickled in the writings of the gifted education movement. (I'll be spending the following two weeks presenting parent seminars on gifted…

"Existential depression" is not a euphemism, it has a specific meaning. While, I do not have the primary references to back up my point [so I guess you may take me to task for that] I too am very much immersed in the gifted field. There is most definitely a consensus among the people who deal with gifted children, especially their emotional needs, that existential depression hits earlier and more often in these kids than in the general population of children. I do not know about giftedness in general, including adult giftedness.
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