Narcissistic individuals with this type of empathy deficit find it difficult to tolerate their emotions. As such, distress tolerance skills can help the individuals to make it through these intense emotional reactions, so that empathetic engagement can feel secure.
Narcissists and psychopaths lack empathy. It is safe to say that the same applies to patients with other personality disorders, notably the Schizoid, Paranoid, Borderline, Avoidant, and Schizotypal. Empathy lubricates the wheels of interpersonal relationships.
Antisocial personality disorder, sometimes called sociopathy, is a mental health condition in which a person consistently shows no regard for right and wrong and ignores the rights and feelings of others.
People with BPD score low on cognitive empathy but high on emotional empathy. This suggests that they do not easily understand other peoples' perspectives, but their own emotions are very sensitive. This is important because it could align BPD with other neurodiverse conditions.
Schizoid personality disorder is one of many personality disorders. It can cause individuals to seem distant and emotionless, rarely engaging in social situations or pursuing relationships with other people.
A lack of empathy is often considered to be one of the distinctive features of narcissism. However, this is not entirely the case.
Schizoid Personality Disorder (ScPD)
People with schizoid personality disorder (ScPD) are often emotionally detached and indifferent to the world around them. They may express little desire for relationships or emotional ties, even with family and others who could become close friends, such as coworkers or neighbors.
Superpower of Borderline Personality #2: Empathy.
You have a wonderful sense of being aware of what other people are feeling, and helping them name it. Sometimes, you don't even have to have a conversation with someone to be able to get a sense of what they're going through. It's almost like a sixth sense for you.
BP/NPs rarely feels remorse because they don't feel very much empathy and they don't understand that they are responsible for what they say, feel or do.
Can a person with borderline personality disorder feel love? Absolutely! They may just have a hard time expressing it or establishing some stability in their relationships.
Someone with NPD or narcissistic behaviors is unlikely to do things like apologize or sing your praises without it being self-serving.
On the flip side, some experts think people with psychopathy lack a sense of empathy or morality. Compared to someone with ASPD who doesn't have psychopathy, you may feel less regard for others.
Antisocial personality disorder is a particularly challenging type of personality disorder characterised by impulsive, irresponsible and often criminal behaviour. Someone with antisocial personality disorder will typically be manipulative, deceitful and reckless, and will not care for other people's feelings.
[...] Psychopaths, on the other hand, are unable to form emotional attachments or feel real empathy with others, although they often have disarming or even charming personalities. Psychopaths are very manipulative and can easily gain people's trust.
They are also not uncaring people. They do care about family and friends but find it difficult not to act selfishly when experiencing their own heightened emotions. They do want to change, but it is so hard.
Most personality disorders begin in the teen years when your personality further develops and matures. As a result, almost all people diagnosed with borderline personality disorder are above the age of 18. Although anyone can develop BPD, it's more common if you have a family history of BPD.
Because of their overall pessimistic demeanor, they can easily feel slighted and may express this aggressively or hold it in and build resentment. Those with this type of BPD tend to view people in “black and white” terms (known as BPD splitting), so they are likely to hold onto a grudge after feeling insulted.
People with BPD are often on edge. They have high distress and anger levels, so they may be easily offended.
Relationships & Borderline Personality Disorder
“We also have intense and sudden mood changes, and we have severe difficulty regulating our emotions. Unintentionally, we tend to blame others when we make a mistake, which causes us to be manipulative and cruel to those we care about.”
Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is one of the most damaging mental illnesses. By itself, this severe mental illness accounts for up to 10 percent of patients in psychiatric care and 20 percent of those who have to be hospitalized.
People with a BPD diagnosis depend on a favorite person to meet both physical and emotional needs. It can be exhausting to always feel needed, leading to burnout. If you're the favorite person of a loved one or family member with BPD, they may show some of the following behaviors: Constantly asking for reassurance.
Research indicates that BPD is linked to above-average intelligence (IQ > 130) and exceptional artistic talent (Carver, 1997). Because your partner with BPD may be exceptionally bright, they digest information and discover answers to problems more quickly than the average person.
“Chronic feelings of emptiness” is one of the nine DSM-5 criteria for borderline personality disorder. The experience of emptiness is an important criterion to target in treatment because the symptom can be devastating for many individuals.
People with borderline personality disorder may experience intense mood swings and feel uncertainty about how they see themselves. Their feelings for others can change quickly, and swing from extreme closeness to extreme dislike. These changing feelings can lead to unstable relationships and emotional pain.
Suppressing Emotions
Many with quiet BPD, especially those who experienced childhood trauma, hide their feelings because that is what they learned to do to survive when they were younger. You might believe your emotions are only acceptable if you appear in good spirits.