Written by Jessica Miklos, Chapter Executive, ABC Toronto - February 2026
Gifted students have a tendency towards perfectionism and impossibly high internal standards. They don't need the adults in their lives to point out that there are bigger mountains than the ones that they are currently climbing. They know. They have a list. And they are often telling themselves that the only definition of success is to climb the highest mountain, and to do it in a way that has never been done before. Perfectionism and burnout are significant risks in the gifted population. And those can be paralysing.