How to recognize and recover from everyday sociopaths - narcissists

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LETTERS TO LOVEFRAUD: Winning a court battle with a sociopath

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Editor's note: Lovefraud received the following email from a reader who we'll call “Juliet.” Juliet negotiated a settlement with her ex, the father of her daughter. Names and locations have been changed. In the final papers, I am moving to Delaware and he gets supervised visits in Delaware (until age eight) for much longer than I would have if I were forced to fight in court and let the judge decide. Plus I am not paying for him to visit in Delaware. He agreed to pay child support of $450 once he gets a job. My daughter won't leave Delaware with him until age 10, and she won't fly alone to California until age 12.  And she only can leave for California over spring break and summer vacat …

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Thinking Like A Jedi!

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My last post seems to have prompted lots of comments — and I'm glad, thank you. Corporate sociopathy is a major subject and one that I intend to continue exploring in my professional career. I shall let you know how I progress! In the meantime, this week I am encouraged to write about something else. Well, on the surface it may appear to be a different subject”¦ then again, it's to do with choice and action. It's also to do with responsibility — making a stand, whatever that may mean. I've titled this post “Thinking Like A Jedi” because I'd like to share with you something I call The Starwars Theory. Most people I talk to about this have at some point come across the film — even if they …

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Sociopaths in classic dramatic arts

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Last week my husband and I went to the opera to see Carmen. We saw the opera at the beautiful Academy of Music in Philadelphia. Before the performance, an opera expert gave the background of the story and the characters. Carmen was written by Georges Bizet, and premiered in Paris in 1875. Here's the basic story, as described by Wikipedia: The story is set in Seville, Spain, around 1820, and concerns the eponymous Carmen, a beautiful gypsy with a fiery temper. Free with her love, she woos the corporal Don José, an inexperienced soldier. Their relationship leads to his rejection of his former love, mutiny against his superior, and joining a gang of smugglers. His jealousy when she turns f …

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RESOURCES PERSPECTIVES: Dealing with betrayal bonds

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Editor's note: Resource Perspectives features articles written by members of Lovefraud's Professional Resources Guide. Rebecca Potter works as a licensed mental health counselor in West Palm Beach, Florida. She can be reached at: tlc211@gmail.com. Surviving betrayal and trauma By Rebecca Potter Rebecca Potter profile in the Lovefraud Professional Resources Guide I recently attended a workshop by Dr. Patrick Carnes, Ph.D., author of The Betrayal Bond. I was shocked by the denial of the psychological community regarding the trauma experienced by survivors of emotional and sexual trauma. I took my worn and used copy of The Betrayal Bond to Dr. Carnes for his signature. He signed …

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Appeasement–an impossible goal with psychopaths

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By Joyce Alexander, RNP (Retired) The term appeasement is commonly understood to refer to a diplomatic policy aimed at avoiding war by making concessions to another power. Historian Paul Kennedy defines it as "the policy of settling international quarrels by admitting and satisfying grievances through rational negotiation and compromise, thereby avoiding the resort to an armed conflict which would be expensive, bloody, and possibly dangerous”¦ The word "appeasement" has been used as a synonym for weakness and even cowardice since the 1930s, and it is still used in that sense to denounce policies and behaviors that conflict with firm, often armed, action in international relations. From W …

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The Corporate Sociopath

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Today I've decided to tackle a different subject. Why? Because once again, just this week, I've been horrified by the sociopathic behaviour of a corporation towards one of my dearest friends. This friend of mine, I'll call him Jack, is a hugely talented, dedicated professional who has worked all his life in the people industry. He is a Managing Director, and has the most incredible people-skills. Teams who work with him — even those who may have been somewhat disparate before his arrival — will galvanize together and with him to deliver outstanding results. He is, in my opinion, a superstar who genuinely cares for people and who gives his all to his employers. He's always been that way. Oh — …

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BOOK REVIEW: The Psychopath Test (redux)

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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 …

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Comparing stockbrokers and psychopaths

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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. …

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