Toxic-People & Empathy

Toxic people have lots of empathy, not as compassion for you, but to capitalize on your emotions for their own benefit.

Many incorrectly believe that toxic-people such as narcissistic (NPD) and borderline personality disordered (BPD) people have no empathy and cannot feel other people’s feelings. While sociopathy is a common characteristic of these people as they generally consider other people as objects and a means for them to get what they want; narcissists and borderlines are masters of manipulating other people’s emotions for their own agenda.

While empathy is generally defined as one’s ability to sense other people’s emotions to understand what others are thinking or feeling, and many use this awareness to be compassionate and even sympathetic with others; toxic-people commonly use this awareness to appeal to the emotions of the weak and the susceptible for their own benefit.

This why self-improvement is integral in our interactions with others so that we minimize dependency and neediness on others, especially on those who might take advantage of us.