Is giftedness a gift?

Here's an interesting article I found online today about the so-called 'curse of the gifted child' - why stellar students sometimes (maybe even often) grow up to be unfocused adults who lack confidence in their own abilities. http://www.utne.com/The-Sweet-Pursuit/When-Smart-Kids-Grow-Up.aspx

The article posits that if, as a child, academic success comes easily, it is hard to deal with it when things don't come as easily, as you view your abilities as innate - either you know a subject, or you don't; you are good at something, or you're not.

What do you think? As a formerly 'gifted' child, this resonated with me. It also perhaps seems (and I'm not saying this is a good way to be, just perhaps something that falls in line with the article) that there is a discouragement in adult life borne of an inherent sense of unfairness when the rate of return for your efforts becomes so much smaller. A sense of 'everything I had to do to be successful was so easy and self-explanatory then. Why is the path to success so much harder to follow now?'

Do you think we set kids up for failure by enrolling them in gifted programs and celebrating their academic success? If this article is accurate, what do you think can be done to deal with this issue?