Being exceptional has its down side. Often, it is hard to find people with whom you can relate. It may also be more difficult to communicate with people and to share your personal experiences. Loneliness is one of the most difficult aspects of being gifted.
One reason for loneliness among the gifted is the inability to relate to their chronological peers. While their average peers may find enjoyment in certain things, the gifted may have a differing view. Perhaps the greatest difficulty is not in the ability of the gifted to relate to their average peers, but instead the ability of their average peers to relate to them.
For this reason, the gifted person may have considerable difficulty finding friends with like interests. This can lead to an isolated life that may be further strengthened by introversion. This pattern of poor relationship formation can carry into adulthood and make adult, professional and social relationships difficult, including marriage.
Fundamentally, loneliness for the gifted is the result of being “one of a kind.” Each gifted person is a unique stew of talents, emotions, experience, and motivations. This not only places the gifted apart from society to some degree, it may also place them apart from other gifted.