Tbh I never read Gifted Kid™ Angst as “I’m no longer special” but more like “I had unrealistically high academic expectations put upon me at a very young age and learned to measure my worth by academic success and as a consequence constantly feel as if I’m not good enough”
Also we never had to study or try very hard in earlier grades, so by the time we get to high school or college, our skills have plateaued and we have no study skills to fall back on whatsoever. We go from excelling with no effort to failing and having no idea how to catch up.
Also, once you are out of school, there are no more academic tests with which to prove your own worth to yourself. This only heightens the sinking sensation of ‘I am not good enough.’
also theres a huge intersection between “gifted” kids and smart kids with undiagnosed autism/adhd so basically you get these big expectations put on you from a young age and you also have trouble socializing/focusing but dont know why. and then you get to college or work and realize too late that you never learned how to deal with people in an adult social context b/c your entire adolescence was based around academic advancement, and you never got the help you needed bc you were “good in school.” so you basically have to learn social/practical skills from scratch
and that makes you feel even WORSE about yourself bc “sure i can do calculus but i cant make friends/motivate myself, i must be a freak or a dumbass, everyone else can do this, what’s wrong with me?!” rinse and repeat.
