Empathy— I guess the ability to show kindness to other and see through whatever they might be going through, sharing in their pains and I’ll feelings. Whatever happens when someone proves to lack empathy?
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Empathy— I guess the ability to show kindness to other and see through whatever they might be going through, sharing in their pains and I’ll feelings. Whatever happens when someone proves to lack empathy?
Lack of empathy” is a phrase which is often misunderstood or misused. What is really meant is more likely a lack of compassion, or lack of caring, or what could perhaps be called “concerned empathy.”
Empathy means the ability to perceive the feelings of others and to put oneself in another’s shoes. Usually people, even those with personality disorders, can do that. What is really meant is not the ability to simply perceive the feelings of others, but to care about what they are perceiving, or care in some way which is not only in regards to how they themselves are impacted.
For example, consider those with narcissistic personality disorder. These are able to perceive the feelings of others, but won’t bother to do so unless they believe doing so will somehow benefit them, in which case they will. Hence they don’t lack empathy in the technical sense of the phrase, but they do in the sense the phrase is genuinely understood.
To conclude, if “lack of empathy” is taken to mean the lack of concerned empathy, this is not of itself a mental illness, but a very strong symptom of such, especially of the cluster b personality disorders, either narcissistic personality disorder or one of the others (borderline personality disorder, histrionic personality disorder, or antisocial personality disorder) with narcissistic comorbidities.
I would say no. The inability to empathize with other human beings, presents some challenges for someone without empathic abilities, and those who become emotionally close to such people. It is not uncommon to not see those who are not able to put themselves in another’s shoes. This is a character issue and is changeable over time. In most cases require professional therapists