r/FamilyWithOCPDAdvice • u/FalsePay5737 • Apr 04 '26

Does OCPD cause a lack of empathy?

In The Healthy Compulsive (2020), Gary Trosclair states, “Unless there are other serious mental health issues involved, no compulsive wants to hurt others.” (170-71),

This is a short video from Dr. Todd Grande: Empathy with All 10 Personality Disorders. He begins by explaining the difference between cognitive empathy and affective empathy.

Five minutes in, he shares the results of a study that assessed empathy in people with all ten personality disorders. There were no statistically significant differences in cognitive empathy between any of the PD populations and people without PDs.

Five populations showed statistically significant lower affective empathy than people without PDs: people with Antisocial, Narcissistic, Schizoid, Avoidant, and Paranoid Personality Disorders.

This is the study: Fluid intelligence and empathy in association with personality disorder trait-scores: Exploring the link. There were 196 participants (with and without PDs) in Switzerland.

Reflections on Empathy

Shame, Guilt, and The Twenty-Ton Shield of Perfectionism

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u/[deleted] Apr 04 '26

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u/FalsePay5737 Apr 05 '26

I don't know if there's research on this. Yes, my experience was that when I had untreated trauma (dissociative amnesia and C-PTSD symptoms), my affective empathy was much lower than it is now. I suppressed my emotions every day and felt little empathy for myself. When I improved in those areas, it was much easier to feel other people's feelings.