Gifted and talented teens are more apt to suffer from depression and burn out than their peers. Having read previous articles in this column, this statement is unquestionably true. The pressures which gifted and talented teens face are much greater than those of their peers, their parents are often pushing them to their limits and they know that they cannot possibly pay for their future education.
A teen who does well at school is under hot pressure by everyone else to keep up his or her standards. They are constantly watched by their peers, asked their marks, jeered at for answering the wrong responses to questions, and asked difficult questions. Failing to succeed in even small aspects of school academics can be detrimental to their mental health. A mark of 90% on a test for a teen who always attains 97% can lead to thoughts that he or she is losing his or her intelligence and that he or she will never be smart enough to succeed at university. Not getting every single calculus problem can make a gifted teen positive that he or she will never succeed in attaining scholarships. Being scolded by a teacher is like being arrested to gifted teens who are often teachers' pets.
Gifted and talented teens have secret thoughts at awards ceremonies which may not be positive. Although they may be happy for peers who attain awards, they sometimes feel that they themselves deserve it more. They feel that they are letting down their parents and teachers. They may attain multiple awards, but they figure that these awards are definitely not enough, and that they are not good enough. Gifted and talented teens need to feel good about their own accomplishments and happy for peer award winners. One of the hardest parts in their lives is realizing that they are human, like everyone else. They often consider themselves to be removed from society and almost superhuman. It therefore hurts terribly when they realize their own morality and weaknesses. Even the gifted and talented cannot be good at everything. Hopefully these teens have parents and teachers who realize this. A gifted teen may be a math whiz, but a dunce in Phys. Ed., for example. Once this fact is recognized, a gifted teen can live better and have a stronger self-esteem. Gifted and talented teens should not shy away from weaknesses, but rather try to improve them. This can be a challenge to them, which is a very good thing for them to experience. A quiet teen should be encouraged to take on leadership roles, a computer genius should be encouraged to spend more time exercising. Such life skills are necessary for later life.
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