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For example, why do we put such tight sex-role or age-role restrictions on people? Why do people engage in hypocritical behaviors in which they say one thing and then do another? Why do people say things they really do not mean at all? Why are so many people so unthinking and uncaring in their dealings with others? How much difference in the world can one person’s life make? Similarly, these youngsters quickly spot the inconsistencies, arbitrariness and absurdities in society and in the behaviors of those around them. Because they are intense, gifted children feel keenly the disappointment and frustration which occurs when ideals are not reached. However, they are simultaneously able to see that the world is falling short of how it might be. Other more specific characteristics of gifted children are important predisposers as well.īecause gifted children are able to consider the possibilities of how things might be, they tend to be idealists. Why should such existential concerns occur disproportionately among gifted persons? Partially, it is because substantial thought and reflection must occur to even consider such notions, rather than simply focusing on superficial day-to-day aspects of life. If we must die, if we construct our own world, and if each of us is ultimately alone, then what meaning does life have? Meaninglessness stems from the first three. Isolation recognizes that no matter how close we become to another person, a gap always remains, and we are nonetheless alone. We must give the world a structure which we ourselves create. That is, humans do not enter a world which is inherently structured. Freedom, in an existential sense, refers to the absence of external structure. Yalom (1980) describes four such issues (or “ultimate concerns”)–death, freedom, isolation and meaninglessness. Sometimes this existential depression is tied into the positive disintegration experience referred to by Dabrowski (1996).Įxistential depression is a depression that arises when an individual confronts certain basic issues of existence. Although an episode of existential depression may be precipitated in anyone by a major loss or the threat of a loss which highlights the transient nature of life, persons of higher intellectual ability are more prone to experience existential depression spontaneously. It has been my experience that gifted and talented persons are more likely to experience a type of depression referred to as existential depression.