Most people have heard of an empath which is someone that is able to pick up the feelings and emotions of people and energies around them. These are people that are able to help people that are dealing with hard things. But have you ever heard of a dark empath? A dark empath is also able to pick up the energies of people and areas, but they use this energy to manipulate and to use others.
Dark Empath
A dark empath is a person that has the traits of an empath but as soon as they find out what someone is going through, they use their energy to manipulate them for personal gain. They have no real sympathy for anyone.
Empath is a cognitive thing and there are three types of empathy which is the ability to understand the emotions and the feelings that someone has. Some call this, “walking in another’s shoes.”
These people can identify what someone is going through and will want to support them or at least have some kind of sympathy for them. Dark empathy is not a normal thing and if you know someone that has these traits then they probably need to be diagnosed in a mental health facility.
Types of Empathy
These are the three types of empathy:
- Emotional empathy: When you can feel the emotions of someone, and you have experienced the same situations.
- Cognitive empathy: You can understand what someone is thinking and why they are having those emotions.
- Compassionate empathy: You use cognitive and emotional empathy to understand and respond to what someone is going through.
Thoughts of a Dark Empath
People that have dark empathy often feel:
- No pleasure or social rewards when they are around people.
- That they need all the attention.
- They are tuned into other people and their experiences.
- They have emotional detachment.
- They look for grandiosity.
- Strong self-criticism.
Actions of a Dark Empath
Dark empaths often act:
- Gossiping, bullying or will intimidate other.
- Using manipulation tactics.
- Take advantage of people.
- Extroverts.
- Using physical aggression.
These are people that will make you feel that they love you because they will act like you are the only person in the world but then they will use you for whatever they can get from you.
Manipulation of a Dark Empath
Dark empaths are people that use manipulation to hurt others. They can do this indirectly or it will be so subtle that people don’t often notice it. Here is what they might do:
• Gaslight.
• Love bombing.
• Being a victim in every situation.
• Sarcastic.
• Gossiping.
• Intimidating.
• Ghosting.
They will be easy to get along with and very caring and charming but then out of nowhere they will use it against you. These are people that are often narcissistic, psychopaths or they have Machiavellianism.
Narcissism
Narcissism is a mental health disorder that shows:
- Big sense of self.
- Need for attention.
- Feeling grandiosity.
Psychopath
This is another mental health situation, but it isn’t a diagnosis. It includes:
- Manipulating others.
- Low impulse control.
- Not able to feel sorry for what you do.
- No care of others wellbeing.
Machiavellianism
This isn’t a mental health condition but a personality trait and includes:
- Abusive behavior.
- Manipulation.
- Cynicism.
- Vindictive behaviors.
Is There a Difference Between an Empath and Dark Empath?
Dark empaths are people that use cognitive empathy, and they aren’t able to use the others because they distance themselves emotionally. They don’t have a real concern for other people, and they are desensitized to those around them. This is about 20% of the population.
Why Do Dark Empaths Exist?
Dark empaths are people that develop this kind of personality, and it could be part of their biological functions. They might have functional changes in the brain to how they perceive empathy.
Dark Empath Versus Narcissist
Narcissists are people that have traits that cause someone to be a dark empath. This is a personality disorder that can make someone feel that they are better than others and they deserve more.
A person with this personality might not be as critical of who they are as a dark empath is. Sometimes a narcissist is someone that is not able to see themselves in a negative light. This is a real personality disorder.
Dark Empath Versus Psychopath
Dark empaths and psychopath can go hand in hand even though this isn’t scientific. Some believe that they have the same kinds of traits and that they really can’t be separated.
Final Thoughts
Dark empathy is something that is an emotional thing where someone is able to understand the thoughts and feelings that someone is having but they use it for their own gain and not to help them.
This can be part of cognitive empathy and requires someone that is misleading and manipulating someone else to get ahead in the world. Even though dark empathy is not considered a mental health disorder, it has the same kind of traits as other disorders such as narcissism, psychopathy and more.
