In daily life, we often mistake coldness for cruelty and lack of empathy for arrogance. Yet what appears to be emotional manipulation might, in fact, be neurology at work.
Imagine two people who say exactly what’s on their minds.
One does it out of superiority; the other because their brain has lost its emotional filter.
From the outside, the behaviors look the same.
Inside, they couldn’t be more different.
A narcissist uses emotions to control and dominate. Every interaction is a subtle power game, and empathy becomes currency to be spent only when useful.
Early dementia, on the other hand, strips away empathy and impulse control not out of intent, but through neurological decay. It’s not ego — it’s erosion.
And here lies one of the biggest misunderstandings in modern relationships: we interpret behavior without context.
Someone seems distant — “narcissist.”
Someone forgets — “manipulative.”
Someone yells — “toxic.”
But what if it’s not?
What if it’s the brain misfiring, not the soul acting out?
Psychology and neuroscience have long shown that the same behavior can have completely different roots. But society prefers simple labels over complex truths. It’s easier to judge than to understand.
So before you decide who someone is, pause and ask: Is it ego… or is it illness?
Because one needs boundaries — and the other, compassion.
2026.02.24 Stockholm
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