It’s hard to comprehend how one person alone can cause so much damage and heartache—and yet feel no empathy for the people left wounded.

The pain doesn’t just land on one person. It ripples outward. Wives. Children. Family. Friends. Layer upon layer of hurt, disappointment, and betrayal. The abuse may come from a single source, but its effects spread far beyond what the abuser ever acknowledges.

Psychologically, this lack of empathy is often tied to deep traits in their makeup—narcissism, antisocial patterns, or learned ways of seeing others not as human beings but as objects to control. Neuroscience shows that when someone lacks empathy, the brain’s circuits for compassion and mirror neurons simply don’t activate in the same way. They move through life unable—or unwilling—to feel what others feel.

But here is the truth survivors need to hold onto: the damage they cause says everything about them, not about you. Their inability to empathize doesn’t erase your humanity, your worth, or your right to healing.

And healing is the greatest act of defiance against that cycle. While they may leave scars, they cannot take away the possibility of reclaiming peace, dignity, and joy.

One person can cause immense hurt. But one survivor choosing to heal can also begin a chain of light and strength that outshines the damage.