“You should have an A in this class.”
“Shouldn’t you know how to solve that?”
While these comments seem insignificant with gifted kids being expected to “know everything,” they add up, creating a restrictive environment with no room for error.
Junior Mira McInnes was declared gifted in second grade. At the time, she blew through the Harry Potter series and tackled books like Malala Yousafzai’s memoir easily — her parents got a concerned call home for that one.
But her reading in elementary school didn’t magically allow her to understand ionic compounds in Honors Chemistry or advanced trigonometry in precalculus. So, McInnes has gotten used to the typical comments from family and friends when she struggled as school progressed.
“I felt like I was doing great in everything,” McInnes said. “I think, throughout middle and high school, I started to feel the pressure of like, ‘oh, because you're good at this one thing from a young age, then you shouldn't struggle in anything academically, even as you get older.’”
The weight of people's perceptions of giftedness led McInnes to experience burnout starting in middle school and intensifying as she progressed through high school.
Burnout is relatively common among gifted students, with at least one in six experiencing it, according to psychologist Matt Zakreski, leading to loss of motivation, underperformance and anxiety.
Gifted burnout differs from “regular” burnout because gifted students tend to believe their self-worth is tied to their achievements, according to gifted facilitators Lauren Campbell and Mary Holsworth. Both teachers provide specific counseling to gifted students and Holsworth also teaches the SM East gifted program: Student Exploring and Extending Knowledge.
“It's not always based on 'I’m just stressed,'” Campbell said. “I think parents, teachers and students themselves have this myth of what a ‘gifted’ student looks like, and everybody kind of is expected to hold up to that model. So if a student struggles with a course [...] it’s like you are failing your whole self.”
According to Campbell and Holsworth, gifted burnout typically stems from perfectionism. This perfectionism can manifest in different ways, whether it's a student who can’t start projects because they won't meet their own expectations, or a student taking on too many tasks.
“People will not recognize it, because burnout can look like a straight-A student involved in three sports, the head of four clubs, and they work full-time on the side,” Campbell said. “They’re like, ‘Oh, they're so good. This is a perfect student,’ but internally, [the student] is up against the wall.”
Senior Lila Rollins was also declared gifted at a young age and has struggled with perfectionist tendencies at times — never feeling that her work is enough.
“I tend to set really high expectations for myself,” Rollins said. “Because, yeah, the whole gifted thing is [that] I know that I'm capable of it, and I’m just not able to get to that point where you're satisfied with what you're making and what you're doing.”
Holsworth and Campbell have noticed that most gifted students are good at hiding their burnout and avoiding admitting when they are overwhelmed, but sometimes it's noticeable. Whether it’s consistent late assignments, Holsworth seeing students looking exhausted at only noon or just a look on their face where it's clear something is wrong.
Campbell says that once burnout is identified, the best way to address it is to address perfectionism.
“You really have to work with students to help them realize that it's okay to make a mistake and reward their effort, rather than just the outcome of the thing,” Holsworth said.
Holsworth also advises that students who are experiencing burnout should find creative outlets and downtime to recharge. Rollins watches TV shows that she can “zone out” to and McInnes enjoys getting lost in baking when dealing with too many expectations.
They have also adapted their workload more this year, with McInnes using a tutor for her math classes and Rollins having limited the number of AP classes she’s taking.
Dealing with burnout isn’t a simple process. It doesn’t have steps to check off or a clear goal to meet, but it can be managed through strong support systems and taking a step back to see what really matters, according to McInnes.
“It's okay to admit to yourself and your friends that you're not going to be good at everything and not getting something right away doesn't mean you're not gifted, or you can't ever be good at it, because no one is ever going to be perfect, no matter how gifted you are,” McInnes said.
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