What are Over-Excitibilities?
Overexcitabilities are processing intensities a person is born with that indicate a heightened ability to respond to stimuli (Dabrowski, 1972), These processes are found to a greater degree among gifted individuals and are demonstrated via increased sensitivity, heigthened awareness, and degree of intensity of a person's experience.
Dabrowski identified five areas of intensity: Emotional, Psychomotor, Imaginational, Intellectual, and Sensual. A person may possess one or more of these, and it can be helpful to identify which ones are the most active for you.
EMOTIONAL OE
- heightened, intense feelings
- extremes of complex emotions
- wide range of feelings
- over-identification with others’ feelings
- strong affective expression of feelings
- physical responses like stomachaches and blushing
- concern with death processing
- remarkable capacity for deep relationships
- strong emotional attachments to people, places, and things
- compassion ,empathy, and sensitivity in relationships
- acutely aware of their own feelings
- carry on inner dialogs
COPING STRATEGIES
- Keep a feelings journal, use the 5 Questions Method elsewhere in this blog
- Allow feelings to be fluid, try not being stuck in one feeling too long
- have release activities that target comonly recurring feelings in helful ways (song that help you feel sad and cry, or movies that make you laugh etc)
- remind yourself that feelings are not facts, but just experiences you are having
- breathing and grounding exercises when overwhelmed
- take alone time regularly to express your feelings freely, without regard for other's
- remind yourself others feel things without as much intensity, or awareness, and that is okay too
PSYCHOMOTOR OE
- heightened excitability of the neuromuscular system
- capacity for being active and energetic
- love of movement for its own sake
- boundless physical and verbal enthusiasm/activity
- May have rapid speech
- May talk/act compulsively/impulsively
- Show intense drive (tending towards “workaholism”)
- May compulsively organize
- Can become quite competitive.
- May talk constantly
COPING STRATEGIES
- Capitalize on the Now
- Regular Exercise and Sport
- Set Time Boundaries and Stick to Them
- Breathing Exercises and Stretching
- Weighted Blankets
- Taking Turns in Conversation
IMAGINATIONAL OE
- Frequent use of image and metaphor
- Facility for invention and fantasy
- Detailed visualization
- Elaborate dreams
- Ableto visualize end results
- Enjoy daydreams
- Create private mental worlds
- May embellish truth to make stories more exciting
- Reality can mix with fiction (memories and new ideas become blended in the mind)
- Find mundane tasks boring
- Low tolerance for trivial conversation (creativity and imagination are not beingstimulated)
- May be tangential in conversation (some incredible idea may seem more important)
- Maybe misdiagnosed as mania, bipolar disorder
COPING STRATEGIES
- Differentiate between imagination and reality
- Write down or draw the factual account before embellishment occurs
- Use imagination to function in theworld and promote learning and productivity
- Have project boundaries around how many projects can be going on at once and how many must be finished before new ones can begin
- Set up rest routines to avoid staying up round the clock and then falling into depressed sleep states
INTELLECTUAL OE
- Seek understanding and truth,
- Need to analyze and synthesize
- Very active minds
- Intensely curious
- Usually keen observers
- Prolonged intellectual effort
- Tenaciousin problem solving
- May relish elaborate planning
- Can have remarkably detailed visual recall
- Love thinking about thinking
- Moral thinkers
COPING STRATEGIES
- Learn to compensate for loss of interest by focusing on curiosity about others
- Detach from your own ideas enough to make space for other's opinions
- Act upon your moral concerns (deals with moral outrage, empathetic overload) when you can and know what your core values are, but recognize everyone has their own core values so try not to project
- When you feel perceived as overly critical or too outspoken to others, look at language as a game or puzzle to solve (utilizes problems solving, humor) and find softer words
- Compensate for passionate fixation to an idea (need to be right) with a focus on relational priorities (can be viewed as amoral obligation)
- Empower yourself to find the answers to questions (respects need to analyze,synthesize, and seek understanding) on your own time if others fail to have satisfactory answers
- Embrace letting go of know sometimes to sooth the mental processes
SENSORY OE
- Appreciates comfort, preferring soft or natural fibers, specific colors, harmonious sounds, or certain weather conditions or temperatures.
- Appreciates beauty in the natural world, artwork, literature, music, or everyday scenery/objects.
- Becomes absorbed in noises that others don’t, for instance, a clock is ticking in another room.
- Discerning senses of tastes and smells and may enjoy fine food, cooking, and dining.
- Attention to detail and can discern nuances in odors, textures, sounds, etc.
- You might enjoy being the center of attention, whether in informal groups or on stage.
- Takes great pleasure in feelings but may have a narrower range than others of what conditions allow you to feel good.
- Takes great pleasure in feelings but may have a narrower range than others of what conditions allow you to feel good.
- May be diagnoses as Sensory Processing Disorder
COPING STRATEGIES
- Identify situations or stimulation that trigger meltdowns and prepare ahead time to have soothing strategies
- In some settings, decrease the need for the use of seclusion or restraint via positive self talk, acceptance of sensory overload, and asking for what you need
- Try supportive sensory strategies (e.g., Wear ear plugs or noise cancelling headphones ,rocking chair,quiet space, aromatherapy, weighted blanket) and materials (e.g., sensory kitscontaining music, stress balls, items for distraction).
- Provide opportunities to dwell in positive sensory experiences likesmelling theroses or watch thesunset or enjoying literature/art
- ry desensitization training: Use a loofa sponge when showering to decrease skin sensitivities or Improve attentional control with braintraining games
- Make environmental modifications when possible such as lighting, use of white noise machines, wall murals, and other types of furnishings and equipment to increase or decrease the sensory stimulation aspace provides.
- Educate individuals, family members, caregivers, administrators, and policymakers about sensory processing issues in adults and how to minimize their negative impact on function
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