Cognitive and affective empathy are two independent but closely related processes, supported by different (albeit overlapping) brain structures. A cognitive empath can effectively read and analyze another person's emotions, but does not actually experience them, and can use this understanding for manipulation. An affective empath, on the contrary, internalizes the feelings of others and lives through them personally. In particularly strong affective empaths, this can be interpreted as smth very close to "voices in the head".
If we look at the world of Dune through this lens, the Harkonnens at their best (the Baron, Lady Jessica, Feyd and Rabban) can be interpreted as powerful cognitive empaths (of varying degrees of strength), while the Atreides - as affective ones (Duke Leto). These are not just different personality types, but two halves of a single gift that, in its ideal, holistic form, should be unified.
Their children and grandchildren - all of them are potentially holistic, integrated empaths, capable of both feeling and understanding simultaneously. But the first generation of this merging was deeply traumatized. These are empaths forced to suppress their affective side with their cognitive one, simply to survive.
If a child-empath grew up in a toxic and traumatic environment, if they did not feel that they received unconditional love, they become vulnerable to an endless, incessant stream of traumatizing emotions. This does not pass without a trace - it directly affects the formation of their personality, prevents a healthy sense of self from forming, and leads to the emergence of those very "voices in the head". These are the voices of parents, ancestors, and all those who, on a subconscious level, considered the child themselves an "Abomination" - or simply always "not good enough, not the ideal project".
And here for me lies the main tragedy of Alia. You may of course disagree with me, but I am convinced: Lady Jessica turned out to be a far more critical factor in the formation of Alia's personality than her pedophile grandfather. It was the mother who should have been the source of unconditional love and validation. But when Alia said she was a monster because she saw how others feared her, Jessica did not give her that necessary, sharp, and unequivocal reaction of refutation. Another close woman, Harah, gave that reaction, but it was not enough. This vacuum creates a heavy, vicious circle for the empath: over time, they get used to the thought that whatever they do, however hard they try, in the eyes of others they will forever remain an "Abomination".
This is exactly what causes dissociation. Without receiving validation of their value from outside, the empath, in order to protect themselves from unbearable pain, separates their cognitive part from the affective one. They build up the cognitive armor more and more, hiding from the emotions of others as from blows. Eventually, the holistic empath collapses and buries the affective part inside. This does not make their life happy, but at least makes it bearable for existence without a constant desire to off themselves.
On the other hand, the example of Ghanima and Leto shows that even a small pocket of safety and the presence of a loving person can counteract a toxic environment and guide a traumatized empathic child back towards wholeness. That very moment under the influence of the external poison-trigger in the desert and the subsequent catharsis - it is literally a moment of reassembling oneself. The voices in the head fall into order. The affective part no longer drowns in the pain of others, and the cognitive part stands guard over it, transforming from a weapon into a shield. And this achieved wholeness allows a person to feel like a god.
P.S. I want to express my immense gratitude to everyone who walked this path of personal awareness together with me - who did not judge me, did not speak of depravity, but discussed or simply silently observed. This has been an incredible journey for me and now I feel myself much much better.