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Narcissists Use a Special Brand of Empathy

Identifying this can help with making informed choices.

Synthia Stark
Preoccupy Negative Thoughts
6 min readApr 14, 2023

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Photo by Pavel Danilyuk on Pexels

Empathy is something that most of us have, and we share it in different ways, some with more intensity than others. Whether it is holding space for a friend crying in need, to collaboratively brainstorming a new strategy with a trusted confidante, it is safe to assume that most people will do the right thing.

Empathy is our moral compass, guiding us from one moment to the next. It tells us when something is completely off, allowing us to flee the turbulent situation and it keeps us tethered to those most important to us, such as our friends and family.

For all that is good about empathy, it can also be a huge source of pain and discomfort, especially in a toxic relationship with someone who may or may not be a narcissist.

For the uninitiated, narcissism can embody toxic relationships where the other person has lowered empathy and an over-inflated sense of self, which can easily influence the well-being of the other person in the relationship.

This can sometimes be tied to gaslighting, a slow-burning form of abuse, where one person makes the other person gradually question their sense of self and reality.

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Preoccupy Negative Thoughts
Preoccupy Negative Thoughts

Published in Preoccupy Negative Thoughts

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Synthia Stark
Synthia Stark

Written by Synthia Stark

Canadian Therapist & Former Researcher | 5x Top Writer | Writing about mental health, psychology, science, etc. https://linktr.ee/SynthiaS

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