Back in May and June, the media blitz for The Psychopath Test, by Jon Ronson, was in full swing. I finally got around to reading the book. Ronson is a British journalist who apparently specializes in writing about nut cases. He wrote The Men Who Stare at Goats, which was made into a movie starring George Clooney and Jeff Bridges. He has a BBC radio show that, according to the New York Times book review, is considered comedy. But he's famous, and people like him. I guess I wish that he'd used his clout and notoriety to do some good with this book. Its full title is The Psychopath Test—A journey through the madness industry. The title is accurate. The book is essentially a history of how …
The baby fake
Daniel Barberini of Wales dated Victoria Jones for about 16 months, while both were students. Jones started getting extremely possessive, so Barberini ended the relationship. Then, a few months later, Jones tells him that she's pregnant, and he's the father. It was a complete ruse, and she kept it going for two years—using photos of someone else's child from Facebook. Read The child who never was on DailyMail.co.uk. Link supplied by a Lovefraud reader. …
Comparing stockbrokers and psychopaths
Dr. Robert Hare, the guru of psychopathy, has said that if he didn't study psychopaths in prison, he'd look for them at the stock exchange. Read about new research from Switzerland actually compares stockbrokers and psychopaths. Stockbrokers more competitive, willing to take risks than psychopaths: Study, on HuffingtonPost.com. …
The sociopath takes what he wants
The “sociopath,” boiled down, is someone who routinely does, and takes, what he wants, unconcerned with the impact of his behavior on others. Nothing in my mind defines his essence more than this concise, factual description. He is rather unique, and thus diagnosable as a sociopath, to this precise extent. Sure, we've discussed this before, but it always merits, in my view, fresh reconsideration. And so let me add, I think, an important caveat: The sociopath doesn't necessarily feel he has the “right” to what he's pursuing, or planning to take. Rather, he doesn't feel he needs the right. He just needs the want. Simply wanting what he wants, with or without the right to it, meets his …
Healthy Friendships, Healthy Boundaries
This is today's status for one of my friends on Facebook: “Let go of those who bring you down and surround yourself with those who bring out the best in you, and want the best for you” It's particularly apt for me at the moment, as the subject of what constitutes a healthy relationship has once again become something that is close to my heart. Last week, once again, I found myself re-evaluating the value of my friendships following a series of eye-opening realizations. Not just with one person, with a handful of people covering contrasting situations and differing levels of severity. Funny, don't you think, how sometimes the universe seems to conspire to make absolutely sure we get the …
Rape by deception
Lovefraud recently received an email from a woman in Israel. She says that she was involved with a man for almost two years, and had sexual relations with him. He promised that they would marry and have children. The guy seemed to have a wife, but he claimed it was a fake marriage to get a passport. Well, he was, in fact, married and leading a double life—a con man. The woman is trying to get him prosecuted for “rape by deception.” Yes, Israeli law includes the concept that consensual sex based on a false premise is rape. Here's the actual law: RAPE 345. (a) If a person had intercourse with a woman — (1) without her freely given consent; (2) with the woman's consent, which was …
TARGETED TEENS AND 20s: I have found a new pride and fearlessness
Editor's note: Lovefraud received the following email from a young woman whom we'll call “Adriana.” The name in the story below has been changed. This is a story about two girls who were on the same sports team in high school. Both showed lots of potential and both won lots of achievement awards ”¦ Both went on to do athletics in college. One was a sociopath ”¦ the other was shy and introverted. I was the introvert. Other people saw my success, but I just enjoyed athletics and was not seriously competitive... I was excellent because I enjoyed it. As strange as that sounds. I moved a lot as a kid... This last high school was the one I went to the longest: three years. Little did I know, …
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