Gifted children are usually perfectionists. On the one hand, perfectionism means they are motivated to work toward mastery and they earn pleasure from achievement. On the other hand, it means they are unforgiving of themselves, they resist learning from failure, and they have great difficulty going backwards. Perfectionism contributes to pessimistic beliefs, feelings, and actions. This is a powerful impulse which prevents learning the valuable lesson of redoing, starting again, reversing, or regrouping.
Perfectionism is potent.
Perfectionists produce better work, they get better grades, they get enormous positive feedback. Perfectionists also have a markedly higher suicide rate . Perhaps because in many ways, it is absolutely true. True or not, it leads to a special sense of burden. These are the Einsteins, the Beethovens, and the Picassos.