overexcitability
Too easily stimulated
Overexcitability describes a heightened capacity to respond to stimuli, whether emotional, intellectual, sensory, physical, or imaginative.
The term comes from psychology, particularly the work of Kazimierz Dabrowski, who identified it as a characteristic common in gifted individuals.
Someone with emotional overexcitability might have intense reactions to situations others find unremarkable, while sensory overexcitability might make certain textures or sounds unbearable.
Her overexcitability meant she needed quiet spaces to decompress after social gatherings.
Excessive physical or mental energy
- restlessnessState of unease
- fidgetingRestless minor movements
- impulsivityActing without considering consequences
- agitationDisturbed, restless state
overactivity · jitteriness · antsiness · rambunctious · boisterous · kinetic · energetic · squirminess
Exceptional innate ability
- intensitiesMeasures of strength
- supersensitivityExcessive reactivity to stimuli
- overstimulationExcessive sensory input
- sensory processingBrain interpreting incoming stimuli
emotional intensity · imaginational · psychomotor · gifted children · twice-exceptional · neurodivergence · hypersensitivity · threshold
Strength or force level
- fervorIntense emotional intensity
- passionIntense emotional drive
- ardorIntense emotional warmth
- volatilityRapid, unpredictable changeability
reactivity · hypersensitivity · mood swings · tearfulness · euphoria · elation · thin-skinned · rawness
Material for starting fires
- synapticOf nerve connections
- neurotransmitterSynaptic chemical messenger
- glutamateExcitatory neural transmitter
- GABAInhibitory brain neurotransmitter
action potential · depolarization · hyperarousal · sensitization · nerve impulse · inhibitory · threshold · brain activity
hyperactivity
Excessive physical or mental energy
- restlessnessState of unease
- fidgetingRestless minor movements
- impulsivityActing without considering consequences
agitation · overactivity · jitteriness · antsiness · rambunctious · boisterous · kinetic · energetic · squirminess · exuberance
giftedness
Exceptional innate ability
- intensitiesMeasures of strength
- supersensitivityExcessive reactivity to stimuli
- overstimulationExcessive sensory input
sensory processing · emotional intensity · imaginational · psychomotor · gifted children · twice-exceptional · neurodivergence · hypersensitivity · threshold · arousal
intensity
Strength or force level
volatility · reactivity · hypersensitivity · mood swings · tearfulness · euphoria · elation · thin-skinned · rawness · vulnerability
kindling
Material for starting fires
- synapticOf nerve connections
- neurotransmitterSynaptic chemical messenger
- glutamateExcitatory neural transmitter
GABA · action potential · depolarization · hyperarousal · sensitization · nerve impulse · inhibitory · threshold · brain activity
overexcitabilityflat affect
Diminished emotional expressiveness
numbness · unresponsiveness · apathy · torpor · anhedonia
overexcitabilityhyposensitivity
Decreased reaction to stimuli
insensitivity · unresponsiveness · desensitization · habituation · indifference
overexcitabilityequanimity
Unshakable mental steadiness
imperturbability · composure · placidity · stolidity · unflappability
over, excitability, excitable, excite, excited, excitedly, exciter, excites, exciting