and the loss of empathy is what's strikingly terrifying.

I've had many people say so many terrible things to me as a child, a teenager and as an adult.
Clearly having a condition or a form of disability means you're probably going to get target by someone either in real life or on the internet. So most times, I already just built a resolve.

Recently I met a woman whose husband just died, and what people said to her online and offline were saddening, but because she probably wasn't used to such things, she broke down in many ways.