3 ms·
I was in a relationship with someone that had all of the “dark triad” traits for a long time. I don’ didn’t realize it, because the reality is so different from
by _yb2s 3y ago
I was in a relationship with someone that had all of the “dark triad” traits for a long time. I don’ didn’t realize it, because the reality is so different from the cultural and media stereotypes.
In reality, the lack of empathy was mostly just a disability that harms their ability to relate to people. An inability to form deep emotional connections with people, and doing things that others felt were aggressive or cruel without even realizing it.
- raccoonDivider 3y agoIf I may ask, did these traits make the relationship unviable, or did it end for other reasons? Do you think treatment (CBT, etc.) would have helped?
- _yb2s 3y agoI suppose treatment could have helped, but she would not have accepted any kind of therapy or intervention where she had to do anything differently. I had my own issues that mirrored hers (read about codependents and narcissists), but I eventually came to be conscious of the dynamic, and worked on fixing my side of it, which immediately made the relationship impossible.
- raccoonDivider 3y agoThanks for sharing.
- surprisetalk 3y agoThat must've been hard -- sorry to hear that. I hear "lack of empathy" both applied to people with autistic-spectrum traits and sociopathic traits. I tend to categorize this difference as "inability to understand" vs. "inability to care". Is there a difference?
- _yb2s 3y agoThere is a huge difference in the persons internal experience, but they might look similar to other people.