It begins quietly. A child notices a shift in their parents’ tone. They sense when tension fills a room. They learn to read between words — not for meaning, but for mood. By adolescence, it feels natural to accommodate. To soften conflict before it erupts. To hold others’ discomfort without letting it show. Eventually, that child grows up, and someone calls them an empath.But what if it wasn’t sensitivity at all — just survival?

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