[fergusmccallister]

Just curious has anyone been tested for being gifted and is bipolar? I've been doing some quick research and their appears to be a group that say gifted people are misdiagnosed as bipolar while others say that a higher % of gifted people are bipolar and that there's a relationship.

[Yoda]

My son is a strange one. He has ADHD and bipolar and is gifted in math but has a written language learning disability. Go figure.

[Haze-N-Rave]

More than once I've been encouraged by my psychiatrist that there is a gift in having this disorder, and I think to some degree he is right. The problem is that it seems to come at a high cost and we have to face a large amount of turmoil to be able to embrace it.

The biggest part I have noticed is that we tend to have a creative edge that others cannot reach. Art and creative writing have come very natural to me and I have had times when I have wowed people without trying too hard, simply by thinking differently. Of course it is usually when I am on the higher side of things. I think bipolar people have a tremendous amount of insight and reflection and it seems to fuel this idea. I think it can be a tool if we can control it.

[Amazonmom]

I was tested repeatedly as a child and always came out "gifted". I am fortunate in that school has always been pretty easy for me...but the bipolar did catch up with me once...ended up flunking out of grad school due to depressive episode.

As left brained as people say I am, music and art are two hobbies I am passionate about. There are few things more beautiful than seeing a Van Gogh in person. A good cello solo can make me cry.

I'm really hoping my bipolar treatment won't take away my gifts.

[VickiesPath]

Originally Posted by Amazonmom

I was tested repeatedly as a child and always came out "gifted". I am fortunate in that school has always been pretty easy for me...but the bipolar did catch up with me once...ended up flunking out of grad school due to depressive episode.

As left brained as people say I am, music and art are two hobbies I am passionate about. There are few things more beautiful than seeing a Van Gogh in person. A good cello solo can make me cry.

I'm really hoping my bipolar treatment won't take away my gifts.

I have an IQ in the gifted, bordering on genius, range. I am gifted in music with perfect pitch and can pick up and play almost any instrument you put into my hands. I have been known to cry at symphonies. A perfectly pitched male chorus makes me cry. If I walk into a room with a tile floor and it has a square table in it, the table MUST line up with the tile floor. I have seven power saws and know how to use all of them and do so regularly. I can fix anything around the house including plumbing and electricity.

I was a slow reader in school. I could pick out every single grammatic, punctuation, and spelling error but could read a paragraph and not even begin to tell you the content. It wan't until my second year of university that I figured out a workable method of reading for content.

I, too, worry about my bipolar meds taking away some of these abilities but at the age of 56 I'm not really, really worried about it and would rather live a better quality of life that suffer like I have the past 30 years.

I bought a book called Finding Your Bipolar Muse recently which is about this very subject. It is about reclaiming the talents that can be lost when taking bipolar meds. I haven't read it yet but hope that it might provide some insight into regaining control over my creative side.

[1963.Susan]

hi - 1st post but i've been lurking for quite a while. i was never dx as gifted or anything, but i'm always being told that the things i am very good at (photography, computer programming), in addition to my general high intelligence, are being "wasted" by not doing anything with them (i.e., trying to make $$ with them in some way).
oh well.

susan, glad to be here.

[youngm357]

I think we are all 'gifted' as we need the extra 'capacity' to function in our disease.

[ilazria]

I think I fall in this category. I was a grade A student until after I dropped out of the gifted program. Some pretty evil teachers, there. Not making this up, I was forced out. Stopped caring about school, but still managed to pass with decent grades because I could absorb things like a sponge. Never studied but passed most of my tests.

I, too, could play any instrument put in my hands. Taught myself bassoon in high school, and was first chair by sophomore year. Always loved art. Still do, but now I'm afraid to start anything because if I don't finish it all at once, it usually never gets finished.

[VickiesPath]

I can identify with you Ilzaria. I have numerous unfinished projects around the house. Used to drive my hubby crazy until he learned that we could compromise on it if we talked about it a little.

Listen: I wracked myself with guilt for many, many years for not living up to my intellectual potentional. But then I learned that it is not one's "IQ" that determines one's successs in this world, it is one's "EQ" or "emotional quotient". Those of us who are challenged with emotional disorders who are truly at a disadvantage and are faced with nearly insurmountable obstables at times. So, my T and I decided recently that I needed to forgive myself for accomplishing less than I had hoped in my lifetime.

Originally Posted by 1963.Susan

.... in addition to my general high intelligence, are being "wasted" by not doing anything with them (i.e., trying to make $$ with them in some way). oh well.

This. Exactly. I used to really beat myself up about it, you know, like "what is wrong with me?!". One school I went to had AA (as in 96 and above, not the other, lol) and then another school, where they had the just the traditional A s, they were all over the report card. Taking the ACT in h.s. ranked 99th percentile for college-bound. Went straight to a 4 year university and ended up dropping out with a major depression the beginning of third year. (When you're in a dark room all day and not able to bring yourself to attending classes... well...) Went home where depression was ignored -- major denial. Never quite got back on track. Got a 2 year degree about 10 years later, highest grades of major at graduation. Took another 2 year program another 10 years down the road, but didn't graduate -- not for lack of grades, but because, let's face it, unfortunately, two 2 year degrees don't add up to a 4. My earnings and jobs have been nothing on par with mind and abilities. Just can't stick with anything and with so often being depressed, self esteem has gone right out the window.

But art? Always, from very first memory. This is what I call "my one thing"... the thing I never doubted and could not be denied. So that is a good outlet, not only on my own, but in things like volunteering with set design at the theatre. Love to sing and grew up figure skating... many facets of artistic endeavor.

But making money? I suck at that. Even if I believed I could (and frankly, I can't imagine it), I worry about consistency. Not in quality but in ability to finish and start in the time frames that are expected. It just doesn't work that way for me. Projects out the wazoo, bam-bam-bam, then nothing. Finally being diagnosed bipolar (BP II) was in a sense a relief -- at least I finally understood what was going on and that it wasn't just lack of fortitude on my part.

[larakeziah]

I have an IQ of 130 an have recently been diagnosed with a mood disorder which doc said could be Bipolar, i never struggled at school, never had a problem with math, or english, i'm a really good speller and i'm always pointin out mistakes! At school i was seen as a problem child and didn't really go too often so never reached my full potential! Some of my friends find me boring an too smart, others find me interesting and love listening when i tell them things or explain things. I'm also very creative and can play some instruments such as saxophone and keyboard, which i taught myself to play. I love drawing and writing and i'm very handy round the house. I can fix almost anything. I don't know if i fit in to category of gifted but i'm prob alot smarter than most of the ppl i know.

[gravyyy]

I was in the gifted program throughout my junior high years. Always tested "off the charts" per my guidance counselor. That being said I always had problems staying on task and staying out of trouble. Not serious trouble, just disruptive. Knew something was wrong with me when I was a freshman but too scared to tell anyone. Suffered for about 10 years before I finally graduated college and moved out on my own. Like Amazonmom, school was always really easy for me. Skated through my bachelor's in nursing without much difficulty at all... got straight As... P'd my classmates off!! I'm also musical. Played in honors band throughout high school (trumpet). Gave lessons in high school and was hired by several different area churches for holidays. That part I never thought about because I come from a musical family and no one else has bipolar disorder. My bro and I are a lot alike in that we are both trumpet players (he's now head band director of over 300 students in the high school where we grew up) and both were in the gifted program. Unfortunately for me somewhere along the line my brain thought having bipolar disorder would be fun. Guess I got the short end of the stick on that one!!!

[birdcrazy]

Yep. I tested as a kid near genius, and today everyone I know points out that I am smart, but I don't feel that way all the time. My psychiatrist told me that it makes it hard for me to communicate with people with average intelligence sometimes.

I am trying to go into science, to be an ornithologist, but my illness seems to be getting in my way, but I am trying to get into grad school as hard as I can.

[lynn P.]

I have also asked and wondered this question myself. My brother was manic depressive and he had a genius IQ. I also had a school friend who always got straight A's but unfortunately she committed suicide when she was 18.

[lonegael]

Hmmm. They say I'm smart. I don't know about that. I have some modest art ability, enough to help me express myself, so I'm happy. I guess I learn things fast. I know that I was put in a gifted program, but since i have some sort of mathematics problem and have what some call a "brain damage profile" in my IQ test, it's hard to say.
I would agreee that I think I had to develop a lot of so called smarts to stay alive. I haven't noticed that my meds take my creativity away, but the daily crunch of jobs and kids leaves me wiped out to the point that being creative is difficult.

[whoswho]

I'm just someone with bipolar who WISHES they were gifted. Haha, it's the worst of both worlds. Yay me.

[fergusmccallister]

Wow there seems to be a lot of us....so if I search the internet for giftedness and bipolar I end up with two types of arguments.

1. Gifted people are special and have challenges similar to bipolar but are misdiagnosed.

2. Gifted people have a higher chance of having bipolar. In much the the same way that people with Aspergers can have great memory skills.

....or my opinion is that both are irrelevant if the meds help

What do you think?

[perpetuallysad]

I was labeled as gifted throughout my schooling and I have also wondered about the link. I posted some info on the correlation around here somewhere, but I honestly cannot remember the name of the thread. Anyhow, I think the two are closely related. A lot of the signs/symptoms are extremely similar, if not completely the same. And with either diagnosis you are different than all the "normal" people.

[Slothrop]

I was considered gifted in school despite poor grades. High IQ. Good musician, if I do say so myself. Degree in writing. Computer programmer. Feel both left and right brained.

Usually feel like I am wasting a great gift.

[Topher]

Yes, many bipolars are gifted, but also diffident, rendered unsure of their capabilities by this disruptive illness. So, it's often hard for a bipolar to profess their gifts, let alone recognize them. This may seem contraditory because when manic or hypomanic these same individuals are supremely self-confident and frequently exhibiting heightened creativity.

I have scored above average on a IQ test.But my most prized gift is my acute sense of awareness, and my gift of intuition. I can sense in others when there is a conflict. Not just by body motions, but a true sense of awareness when something is wrong. Events take place in my mind that is like watching a movie, and then these events happen. Then I feel an elated feeling when this happens.My dx was schizophrenia and bipolar. I rather enjoy being who I am, even if others think it's weird.They are just scared of what they do not understand that's all.Peace and big hugs from over here.....

[BNLsMOM]

I have never taken an IQ test, but I have heard that EQ (emotional quotient) is fairly important too. I suspect that we who are labelled "ill", have a high EQ.

My T once said that the mental "illness" is when we are unable to function in the world, and not necessarily because of what we are going through in terms of symptoms. It's about how we react to symptoms that determines mental health.

I consider that a form of being gifted.

ETA: I couldn't resist, so I took an online IQ test from IQtest.net. I scored 142. I have no idea if this test is valid or not, but it came with tons of "special offers" that I had to refuse, so I suspect it is not valid.

[Merlin]

I did an IQ test, a genuine one, in grade eight. They never did tell me my IQ. I know that my lowest section, I was in the 88th percentile and there were sections that I was in the 99th percentile. I did the test on the mensa website and they said that I might be a candidate for mensa if I took another IQ test. A professor at college once told me that I was the smartest student he had. I think I'm gifted, but I am also one of the people that ruins the correlation between giftedness and success.

[VickiesPath]

Originally Posted by Merlin

I did an IQ test, a genuine one, in grade eight. They never did tell me my IQ. I know that my lowest section, I was in the 88th percentile and there were sections that I was in the 99th percentile. I did the test on the mensa website and they said that I might be a candidate for mensa if I took another IQ test. A professor at college once told me that I was the smartest student he had. I think I'm gifted, but I am also one of the people that ruins the correlation between giftedness and success.

As a former member of Mensa, I can attest that being gifted has nothing to do with being successful.

[birdcrazy]

Yeah, Emotional Intelligence is pretty important. In fact for me, it's very low. I've been told this, and an online test told me my EQ, with 100 being average, is about 70. Yikes!

Anyway I was bright as a child, I was severely emotionally impaired though. I was in honors courses and special ed at the same time!!!

Rehabilitation services told me today they doubt I would make it very well on my own, even though I have before.