I know exactly ONE actual, honest to god empath, as it turns out they do exist and are nothing like those ridiculous self-proclaimed ones on the internet.
She clocked my ASPD pretty much right away and she has said that it strongly contributes to why she likes having me around. My presence is relaxing to her because in the same way she strongly picks up on and feels other people's emotions, she also feels my calmness. Me just sitting there and being around has actively helped her feel calmer when she was upset.
And that's the thing, someone who genuinely internalises the feelings of everyone around them to that degree would not only extend that empathy to everyone regardless of any personality disorders but also LOVE and benefit from being around someone whose emotions are blunted if not absent. At no point has she ever preached to me about empathy, at no point was there any moral high-horsing or judgment, nothing but appreciation. We're on completely different ends of the spectrum and we can both respect and learn from each other's experiences.
And ALSO, despite genuinely feeling others' emotions just as (or even more) strongly than her own, she does not make it about herself, she doesn't whine how it's so hard for her when someone else is upset, she doesn't remove herself from the situation when someone is feeling something overwhelming. In fact, i think she ends up neglecting her own needs too much sometimes in favour of supporting everyone around her.
Any "empath" that rags on cluster Bs and/or uses the label as an excuse not to deal with the feelings of others doesn't know a damn thing about actual empathy and can honestly go fuck themselves.
