Have you ever wondered why you’re sensitive to things that other people just don’t notice? Or why your child has strong reactions to things that other kids seem to take in their stride? Maybe people have always described you as ‘intense’ or told you to ‘toughen up’, or warned you to stop pandering to your child?

If you can relate to any of these questions, you probably have experience of what psychologists call overexcitabilities.

‘Overexcitability’ is a translation of a Polish word meaning ‘superstimulability.’ Leading twentieth century psychologist Kazimierz Dabrowski first used the term to describe a tendency to react more easily and in a stronger and more lasting way to stimuli.

Dabrowski suggested that there are five forms of overexcitability (OE): psychomotor, sensual, intellectual, imaginational and emotional.

Find out if you have overexcitabilities by taking the free online OE questionnaire on the PowerWood website, where you can also find information about the different forms of OE and read stories by individuals and parents who experience with them.

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