the word empathy is WIDELY misused, even in mental health spaces.
empathy:
- is responding to a person’s emotions by experiencing the same emotion as them (i.e. feeling sad when something sad happens to that person, or happy when something happy happens to that person.)
- is an automatic response that cannot be controlled
- cannot be learned
sympathy:
- is recognizing that another person is in pain, even if you do not experience that pain, and offering comfort to that person
- is something a person must actively choose to do
- can be learned
compassion:
- is showcasing care and support via words and actions
- is something a person must actively choose to do
- can be learned
if you need an example of a person with no empathy who practices sympathy and compassion, look no further than data from star trek: the next generation. he doesn’t have emotions at all, but he’s still kind to people and wants to help them.
stop telling people that they’re evil because they don’t experience empathy. stop equating empathy with morality. stop equating empathy with caring. stop saying that cruel people “lack empathy.” stop throwing neurodivergent and mentally ill people under the bus.
