Empathy or the lack of it

[Cascade]

Has having a PD in your life affected the empathy you feel for others?                         
  Sometimes I wonder if my husband's lack of empathy is rubbing off on me after being married to him for so many years. He has narcissistic traits and is not very empathetic. Or could my lessening empathy be caused by something else? Anyone else dealing with this?

[walking on broken glass]

Is it possible that you have so much on your mind dealing with your husband that you don't have the mental space to deal with other people too, and this is what you are experiencing as lack of empathy?

[Call Me Cordelia]

Perimenopause is having that effect on me I believe. My window of tolerance is just plain smaller. It needs to be a deliberate choice to respond with compassion even to my family and my level of mindfulness needs to be higher in my day to day. I make choices to cut out other things so I can. I think any number of things can lower our natural level of empathy, and all of us have limits. I am less available to those outside my immediate circle so I can be better to those inside it. So I'm not signing up for meal trains or volunteering etc. very much right now.

I guess where is your perceived lack of empathy becoming a problem for you? Is it affecting relationships that matter to you?

[1footouttadefog]

I find myself having less tolerance for PDness or PDism that I encounter


I don't think it's a measure of my empathy but rather a measure of my fear, and a measure of my bandwidth.

[bloomie]

Cascade - I have been noticing similar lately, especially in relationships that have long been out of balance, or where a person has a long history of inviting drama and difficulty into their lives.

I see it as a kind recalibrating my emotional energy. Or maybe, my hope of hopes.. wisdom calling my name! 

[1footouttadefog]

Thinking about this, I decided to circle around.

Overall I have more empathy.  I recognize when others might be dealing with pd-ness themselves and that brings out empathy.

Also I understand that the PDs often have trauma and cptsd, and com-morbidities regarding mental illness.  This brings up some empathy such that I remember they are human and hurting on some level.  My tolerance remains low at times however