How to Survive As an Intellectually Gifted Person

Being intellectually gifted certainly has its cons, this is a brief guide on how to deal with them.

Many gifted people have trouble with acquiring and keeping friends. Try finding people with similar interests or at least a group that is accepting and understanding of your eccentricities. Another good way to prevent isolation is to join a club or organization of some kind such as a reading group or Mensa.

Never give up your interest(s) just because it's different than the "norm." There is always someone out there with a similar interest to your own, the trick is to find those people. One of the best ways I learned that helps with this is to talk about your interest on the internet. Curious people are always looking for information about their interests and they may find your stuff on the net and contact you about it. This is but one of the many ways to find people with interests similar to your own, but it works quite well.

Be open to trying new things, you may find a topic that is interesting to you that other people like too. If this happens you can always have someone to discuss, debate, and share information with.

When communicating with other people avoid big words or terms the other person might not know. The individual may feel stupid or think you are nothing but a walking computer.

Don't allow yourself to be bully material. The best way to prevent this is usually not humiliating or being harsh to the assailant, but to ignore them when they mock you. The bully is merely proving that they are insecure with who they are and therefore need to tear others down to feel better about themselves.

Tips

• One thing many gifted people may be eccentric about is their hygiene and manners. Show that you care about yourself enough to at least keep clean. Poor hygiene and manners may prevent people from wanting to socialize with you.
• Be respectful to others and make sure that you are humble about your talents. Know that everyone is different and unique in their own way.
• Make sure that you are patient with others concerning your areas of expertise. They might not be as mentally quick as you sometimes or may not be able to "see" some things that you think are obvious. They are not stupid, it just means that it's a subject or skill that they don't have as much skill or knowledge of as you. You may be able to find a way to explain it to them that they will understand, and you might not. Either way don't lose your temper.
• You may find some things that are tough for you that are easy for others, don't get discouraged, everyone has things that do and do not come easily to them. No one can be the best at everything.

Warnings

• One of the greatest hardships of being gifted is that you usually cannot discuss your interest with others. Usually the reason for this is that the interest is so different than what is considered "normal" that most people have no knowledge and or interest in the subject. Don't give up! Don't conform to mediocrity just to please others! This is one of the worst things you can possibly do and you may regret it later on.
• Don't hide your interests from others but at the same time do not be too open about them (if that makes sense). If some people become friends with you without knowing that you have these eccentric interests there is a chance that could turn into trouble later on. Because you cannot hide your interests forever and eventually you will be found out and they might make fun of you or possibly even abandon you. True friends will be friends with you despite your unusual facinations so don't hide them.
• This is possibly the greatest warning of all; be very, very careful about which people you tell (if anyone) that you are intellectually gifted. Because unless they are a very open and trustworthy person, they could betray you. They may say things that hurt your feelings, tell others who you did not intend to know your "secret", and everything could turn into a big mess. So if you choose to tell someone make sure it is a person that you trust.