Empathy disorder

This is kind of like the empathy is narcissism one but I was just pondering the notion that empathy may also be a personality disorder.

Some people say that people who say they are empaths are in fact narcissists. Are the two intertwined or is empathy a disorder in itself?

empathy falls under Altruistic Personality Disorder.

Manners73 wrote:
Some people say that people who say they are empaths are in fact narcissists.

I think they've been watching too many episodes of Star Trek.

Seriously though, it's a craving for attention, so yes.

I don’t think empathy is a disorder, thinking you are more empathetic more caring and more understanding than everyone else might be though. It shows you think more highly of yourself than others and you likely don’t know or understand how other people think or feel so the empath is probably just An empath in their own mind.

Empathy in general seems to be on the decline I don’t want to get off topic or the thread will get locked for not being specific enough to NPD as opposed to narcissistic traits in general and we can’t have that. God forbid, but anyway I tend to see it with close friends or family only these days. Most people would kick a homeless person in the face if it saved them 5 seconds in their morning routine. Most people are really only concerned with themselves and maybe that’s how it should be? I don’t really know, the world would be a better place if it wasn’t filled with as many selfish pricks that I do believe

Manners73 wrote:This is kind of like the empathy is narcissism one but I was just pondering the notion that empathy may also be a personality disorder.

Some people say that people who say they are empaths are in fact narcissists. Are the two intertwined or is empathy a disorder in itself?

A personality disorder per definition is a structural disorder of the self and its parts, while empathy is basically a skill produced by the self. So they are different categories.
Empathy proper is a sideeffect of emotional and cognitive maturity. On the contrary people who fidn it important to say they are empaths are in my experience usually not mature and are often mixing up empathy with either emotional contagion or their overall amplified or histrionic inside.

Manners73 wrote:This is kind of like the empathy is narcissism one but I was just pondering the notion that empathy may also be a personality disorder.

Some people say that people who say they are empaths are in fact narcissists. Are the two intertwined or is empathy a disorder in itself?

I'm pretty sure you've asked this question before.

Empathy isn't a pathology any more than intelligence or physical attractiveness are. Declaring that you have superhuman levels of any of the above could probably be called grandiosity.

In my view the key issue is that not everything which is called empathy actually is. In psychotic projection where a schizophrenic projects their thoughts or internal monologue onto other people the afflicted individual may end up believing they are telepathic, when in reality schizophrenics have some of the poorest social cognition of all groups of the mentally disordered.

The less extreme defences seen in personality disorders also occur below the conscious level and are often experienced by the disordered person as an intense form of emotional intuition, which can conceivably be inappropriately labelled as empathy. People diagnosed with BPD are particularly well known for the belief that they have some sort of highly tuned emotional radar which has little bearing in reality.

Esmoke wrote:Empathy in general seems to be on the decline I don’t want to get off topic or the thread will get locked for not being specific enough to NPD as opposed to narcissistic traits in general and we can’t have that.

I don't understand the logic behind all the locking of innocent threads lately. If I wanted to prevent actively people to find solutions to their problem, I would not act any different: moving the goal post, applying the rules rigidly, punishing self-expression, it's all too familiar...

Greebo wrote:I'm pretty sure you've asked this question before.

It's somewhat of a favorite topic around here.

Why? Because focusing on people's perceived shortcomings is the cheapest shortcut to an ego boost. As opposed to, say, look into yourself, which is hard, lengthy and painful

i think smart empaths are narcissistic but stupid ones are not

think about it

if they'r stupid they wont know how to use they'r powers to there advantage

saucygirl31 wrote:if they'r stupid they wont know how to use they'r powers to there advantage

You may feel more admiration for people who cut corners than people who don't, and that's all right. But cutting corners as a strategy is a perpetual gamble, with unforeseen consequences at every turn.

People who don't aren't always naïve or stupid, they choose instead long range strategy over immediate gratification. It shows they have mastery over themselves.

so thats your definition of stupid? ppl who dont cut corners?

i just mean people with poor social skills, problem solving, working memory, etc are less likely to use their empathy in a manipulative way