I know. All I could think about was throwing myself in front of traffic on the freeway I could see out my window. Eating was a chore because food tasted like sand. Feeling flat was an improvement.

I wasn't really in any kind of coherent state where I could have discussed giftedness. I do think therapy can be helpful even when one is not in a crisis, though. In that case, you really need to feel that the person you are talking to understands you. How they came to that understanding is less important.

When I was 22, my medical doctor sent me to some guy, after a string of psychiatrists that weren't working, her comment :You need to go to someone you can't bullshit.
Ren

I never felt any social pressure except among my age-group.

GT kids get singled out early on by bullies.

When I got to a new school, I got picked on and called a sissy because I carried books around all the time, spent time talking to adults, spent time observing stuff, etc. That got corrected on the soccer and football fields when I deliberately repaid people in kind.

I knew one girl who was a NMF two years before me in HS whose tormentors began picking on her when she was in 2d grade and it continued into HS where the coaches put a stop to it. But it left huge scars.

In another school, there were two kids who were later NMF. One played sports and was never picked on. The other did not and was often slammed into lockers, etc. The latter told me it had been going on since Middle School.

Forgive my ignorance, what is NMF?

Here is an article on the latest research on depression.

They are at the point that they have isolated the physical cause and are looking at specific treatments.

Short synopsis - its cause by brain cell death.

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2008/07/06/head_fake/

Sorry, National Merit Finalist.

Oh yeah, duh! (slapping self on forehead)

I was bullied mercilessly from Junior High on. Several years ago one of the bullies attempted to contact me. I was surprised how those feelings were able to resurface so vividly and instantly at just the thought of him.
He was pretty persistent and two years after he first attempted to contact me I "allowed" him to speak to me, thinking the worst.
We ended up having an awesome conversation. He gave me a very sincere and heartfelt apology. We talked on the phone for a long time. It was a good thing.

This last school year we had a bully issue crop up in second grade for DD8. Girls can be very mean. I swiftly and severly nipped it in the bud, with the school's support, it was a beautiful thing. The thing about bullies is that they don't seem to stand up well to strong opposition. Whether it be the bullied child, an adult or another child stepping in. There is also a whole lot of psychology behind the bully's behavior. I think it best if a child that is bullying can be corrected as early as possible for the child him/herself, not just the child that is being bullied.

Great article, thanks for posting. I find nueroscience thoroughly interesting. Exciting things coming in the next 5-10 years or so.

Neato,
I would love to know how you "nipped it in the bud". DS8 always seems to have at least one kid pick on him whenever he joins a group. Could you give me some advice on how to hand it?

Hi ebeth.

Be careful what you wish for.

Okay, I'd like to give you a long-term solution as well as the short term solution I used for this one instance, hope you don't mind.
Settle in, I can be longwinded, especially about things I am passionate about and preventing kids from being bullied is pretty high on that list.

I have a theory about the energy we send out to others either knowingly or unknowingly. This theory is wholly un-scientific and pretty anecdotal and metaphysical in nature which I'm sure may creep out those of you who are deeply intellectual and data-driven. sorry....

It's pretty much the whole philosophy behind "The Secret". Uh oh, hope I didn't just lose all credibility here.
Except, I'm pretty rational about it, if that makes sense.

Since you mention your son gets picked on pretty consistently when he joins a group I wonder if this theory could be applied.

I guess I can sum up by letting you know that when I was younger, the energy I was sending out was "doormat", to be simplistic and crass. I was very insecure, I felt different and since in my family different was bad, I felt that there must be something wrong with me. Not saying that's up with your son, just an example for clarity.
Bullies seem to have an uncanny natural ability to sense this and can easily figure out which kids they can take their little aggressions on who won't fight back/stand up to them. I would guess that's why I was picked on a lot.
Now, some adults still get bullied, right? In social situations, in the work place, etc.
I don't and I would guess it's because I send out a different energy. At least that's my opinion on the matter.

How I handled the specific situation with DD:

One "friend" of my daughter was telling another of the girl's friend that my DD didn't like her and didn't want to play with her. Then she was telling my DD the same about the other girl. Additionally she was attempting to convince other children not to play with DD for a variety of reasons.
Since I volunteer in the school I actually observed this behavior which was pretty much key to allowing me to actually be effective in getting involved to stop it.
I contacted the teacher and plainly let her know that while I don't expect all the kids to be friends, that this "campaigning" against my child was strictly bullying and requested that she look into it. Because this situation has ALREADY been addressed by the teacher previously, she sent it to the office.
The school took the matter very seriously and the social worker questioned the girls until she got to the bottom of it. The little girl admitted she had done all of this felt bad and apologized. The best thing the social worker did was to be understanding towards the girl who had made the mistake. There was no shaming involved and she did not get into trouble-because she had accepted responsibility for what she had done. She was told there would be a consequence if it happened again in a very matter-of-fact, non-threatening way.

One thing to keep in mind is that even though this worked out well, it could have easily gone the other way for a variety of reasons. As soon as I contacted the school and requested something be done I pretty much opened a can or worms. There were some parents who felt that I shouldn't have gone to the school. The parent of the child involved who is my "friend" was very mad and her only concern was that her child was in the principals office, she was actually enraged about this. She never considered the fact that the child had been terrorizing my DD and how this affected her.
When I went into it I knew that parents, teachers, etc. could have a very strong reaction to it, but I DIDN'T CARE. I think that's the most important thing. Bullying in unacceptable. The school policy states that. I wasn't going to stand by and tolerate it and to this day I won't make any apology for what I did, because I believe it was the right way to handle the situation, come what may. I think I would have gotten myself into trouble if I had been wishy-washy when it got uncomfortable. KWIM?

I don't know if that helps or answers your question, but I hope so. Let me know if there is anything I can do to help you with your situation.

Neato

Austin - this is exactly what Dr. Ratey in his book "Spark: the revolutionary new science of exercise and the brain" in which he also addresses depression, ADHD, etc. Interesting!!!