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Adults with Accelerated and Sensitive Minds May Face Isolation, Frustrations, and Incorrect Diagnoses. Experts Explain How to Recognize the Signs of Giftedness and the Importance of Early Diagnosis for Emotional and Social Balance.
Adults who go through life feeling “out of place” may actually have something in common: a mind that is much faster and more sensitive than average.
The psychologist and researcher Dr. Olzeni Ribeiro explained in an interview with Lutz Podcast that many gifted individuals reach adulthood without knowing that they possess high abilities — and thus face psychological suffering, difficulty adapting, and even incorrect diagnoses.
According to her, “what we have today are adults who grew up without understanding why they didn’t fit in. Many undergo therapy, use medication for anxiety or insomnia, but actually live the impact of an overstimulated mind.”
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Intelligence and Sensitivity: The Challenge of the Gifted Mind
According to the specialist, one of the biggest challenges of giftedness is the emotional and sensory impact that accompanies high intellectual performance.
People with high cognitive ability tend to perceive the world in intense and detailed ways.
“It’s like they’re wearing 3D glasses all the time,” compared the psychologist.
“They see and feel everything in minute detail, and this can be exhausting.”
This heightened sensitivity manifests in various ways: difficulty in noisy environments, irritation with strong smells or specific textures, and emotional overload in the face of conflict.
Ribeiro reported the case of a young man who ended a relationship because he couldn’t stand the natural scent of his partner’s skin.
“He was in love, but the sensory sensitivity was so great that it became unbearable,” she said.
The Importance of Early Diagnosis
According to the psychologist, identifying giftedness early on is essential to prevent future suffering.
“Ideally, the diagnosis should happen as early as two years of age. The sooner the child is understood, the more likely they are to develop healthy emotional self-regulation.”
With maturity, Ribeiro explains, the gifted individual learns to recognize their own limits and to better manage external stimuli.
“The intensity doesn’t decrease, but control improves. The child or adolescent begins to self-regulate better in response to impacts.”
When recognition doesn’t happen, the result can be an adult with fragile self-esteem, a sense of inadequacy, and difficulty maintaining social or emotional bonds.
School and Giftedness: The First Point of Conflict
The psychologist emphasized that school is often the first environment of frustration for the gifted child.
“School is the first society they encounter. And it is there that a healthy adult or a broken adult will be formed, depending on how this institution accommodates difference.”
She mentioned that it is common for students with high abilities to be reprimanded for participating too much.
“The teacher, not understanding what is happening, asks the child to be quiet and let the classmates speak. Gradually, they start to feel inadequate, as if they’re disrupting the group.”
According to Ribeiro, this lack of school preparedness is the result of the lack of specific training for education professionals.
“Many confuse curiosity and rapid learning with indiscipline. The gifted student learns fast, processes fast, and gets bored fast. When the content doesn’t challenge them, they disengage.”
Active Imagination and Inner Worlds
Another striking trait pointed out by the specialist is the intensity of imaginative life.
Gifted children and adults often create imaginary friends or even entire universes to process their emotions.
“These friends are not signs of delusion, but rather internal elaboration,” she explained.
“The imaginary friend is the symbolic space that the person finds to talk to themselves.”
The psychologist recounted the case of a child who created an “imaginary band” and only calmed down when the parents pretended to put him in the car during trips.
“If the parents didn’t engage in the game, he would have a meltdown. The band represented a part of himself, and denying it was like denying his emotional existence,” she described.
In another case, she talked about a young man who, as an adult, maintained conversations with his imaginary friend during college breaks.
“He said that after that, he returned to class calmer, as if he had taken a tranquilizer. It was his way of reorganizing emotionally,” Ribeiro said.
Understanding and Acceptance: Paths to Balance
For the psychologist, understanding giftedness goes far beyond recognizing above-average intelligence.
“We are talking about people with an absurd intensity. Everything in them is very — very much feeling, a lot of passion, a lot of anger, a lot of empathy. It’s a brain and a heart that operate at high frequency.”
Dr. Olzeni Ribeiro stressed that recognition and acceptance make all the difference.
“When the environment understands and adjusts, this person flourishes. But when ignored or repressed, they break inside.”
She emphasized that giftedness is not a privilege, but rather a condition that requires care.
“These individuals need emotional, pedagogical, and social support. Intelligence alone does not protect anyone from suffering.”
Finally, the specialist posed a reflection: how many adults today carry labels of anxiety, insomnia, or inadequacy without knowing that all of this may originate from a gifted mind that has never been understood?
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