June 2014 | Lovefraud | Escape sociopaths - narcissists in relationships

Psychopathy experts discuss the role media plays in mass shootings

June 29, 2014 // by Tracy Andersen// 2 Comments

Dr. Richard A. Friedman, Professor of Clinical Psychiatry and Director of the Psychopharmacology Clinic at Weill Cornell Medical College, recently published an Op-Ed piece in the New York Times addressing the recent spate of mass shootings: Why Can't Doctors Identify Killers? Mary Ellen O'Toole, Editor in Chief of Violence and Gender Journal, psychopathy researcher, and Senior FBI Profiler, Behavioral Analysis Unit (Ret.), posted this response to Friedman in the Violence and Gender Journal: A Different Perspective on the UCSB Mass Murderer And Jacqueline B. Helfgott, Ph.D., author of Criminal Behavior: Theories, Typologies, and Criminal Justice, expressed her opinions on C …

Psychopathy experts discuss the role media plays in mass shootingsRead More

Women create educational video on sociopathy

June 28, 2014 // by Tracy Andersen// 8 Comments

[youtube_sc url=http://youtu.be/S82-H6qGXwU] Jade Joddle, and her business partner, Charlotte, create animated videos that offer information on love, relationships and personality disorders. One of the videos that content manager, Jade, and illustrator, Charlotte, collaborated on may be of interest to Lovefraud readers: Sociopath Quiz: Have you fallen in love with a sociopath? Link supplied by Lovefraud reader. …

Women create educational video on sociopathyRead More

LETTER TO LOVEFRAUD: Can you count the love bombing red flags?

June 27, 2014 // by Lovefraud Reader// 25 Comments

Editor's Note: This Letter to Lovefraud was submitted by reader whom we'll call “ProudMom.” This was a text conversation between my 19 yr old daughter and a guy she'd only known at work for like 2 weeks. He's already gotten her flowers, a wallet from her favorite superhero and it contained a special $2.00 bill inside of it. She saw the red flags but after making up excuses 3x previously, she was kind of worn down and was going to just humor him with one date so there wouldn't be gossip. She only saw the red flags because her sociopath father tried to kill both of us and we took classes. The creeper reminded her of her father, who was also pushy and also always carried the coveted $2.00 bi …

LETTER TO LOVEFRAUD: Can you count the love bombing red flags?Read More

Mischele Lewis receives ‘Nicole’s Law’ restraining order against William Allen Jordan

June 25, 2014 // by Lovefraud Reader// 8 Comments

Editor's note: Joyce M. Short is the author of “Carnal Abuse by Deceit How a Predator's Lies Became Rape.” Our Unity Has the Power to Make a Radical Change By Joyce Short Although Judge John Tomasello flatly refused to issue a restraining order to protect Mischele Lewis, a victim of sexual assault by coercion, his absurd, misogynist decision was rendered to the trash heap where it belonged. As a result of the media exposure on the issue, through this blog and additional coverage, I was contacted by Michelle Noberto, the outraged mom of a prior sexual assault victim. ”Nicoles Law,” named for her daughter, which makes restraining orders automatic in sexual assault cases, had been gross …

Mischele Lewis receives ‘Nicole’s Law’ restraining order against William Allen JordanRead More

BOOK REVIEW: The Sociopath at the Breakfast Table

June 25, 2014 // by Donna Andersen// 6 Comments

I recently received a review copy of The Sociopath at the Breakfast Table Recognizing and dealing with antisocial and manipulative people. The book was written by Dr. Jane McGregor, a lecturer at Nottingham University Institute of Mental Health, and Tim McGregor, a consultant, writer and mental health practitioner. This is a slender volume, only 111 pages, plus appendix, index and resource listing. It provides a good overview of the sociopathic disorder, how sociopaths affect their targets, and what targets can do to recover. However, if you're looking for a thorough discussion of these topics, you'll need to augment your reading with other sources. The sociopathic transaction One of …

BOOK REVIEW: The Sociopath at the Breakfast TableRead More

Why we need to talk about our experiences with sociopaths

June 23, 2014 // by Donna Andersen// 166 Comments

Most of us at Lovefraud are here because we've been conned, duped, deceived and betrayed by a sociopath. Once we finally figure out what we are dealing with, many of us do not tell other people what really happened. We do not talk about our experiences with sociopaths. After all, it's embarrassing to admit that no, we didn't see it coming, and yes, we fell for the scam. And if we do venture to describe the sociopath's true behavior, we may be met by disbelief. "What? That charming person couldn't possibly have done that. You must have misinterpreted." We quickly learn that people do not understand what we are talking about. Either they don't believe us, or ostracize us. So we stop …

Why we need to talk about our experiences with sociopathsRead More

LETTER TO LOVEFRAUD: My sociopathic ex left me with only a bare grasp on reality

June 21, 2014 // by Lovefraud Reader// 3 Comments

Editor's Note: This letter was submitted to Lovefraud by a reader whom we'll call “Dolina.” The best way to deal with a sociopath is to avoid them altogether but that isn't always possible and of course, you have to realise that is what he is before he takes your brain and turns it into a bouncy-ball. And that they're not really as fun as the TV makes them look. It might be you. It could be even now, you realise something is horribly wrong with your relationship but you can't exactly think what it is. That even though he never outright says anything concrete, he has a way of showing you how useless, helpless, stupid and ugly you are. You're lucky to have him, he knows that and makes sure th …

LETTER TO LOVEFRAUD: My sociopathic ex left me with only a bare grasp on realityRead More

Devaluation and the Inability to Form Emotional Attachments

June 19, 2014 // by HGBeverly// 9 Comments

I'd like to start this post with a passage from the author Jesmyn Ward in Men We Reaped. Here, she talks about how she learned to undervalue herself when her dad left their family: "I looked at myself and saw a walking embodiment of everything the world around me seemed to despise: an unattractive, poor, Black woman. Undervalued by her family, a perpetual workhouse. Undervalued by society regarding her labor and her beauty. This seed buried itself in my stomach and bore fruit. I hated myself. That seed bloomed in the way I walked, slumped over, eyes on the floor, in the way I didn't even attempt to dress well, in the way I avoided the world, when I could, through reading, and in the way I …

Devaluation and the Inability to Form Emotional AttachmentsRead More

Friday June 20, 10 pm: Katherine Underwood story on ABC 20/20, with commentary by Donna Andersen

June 18, 2014 // by Donna Andersen// 30 Comments

Finally, some nationwide exposure to the problem of sociopathic con men. On Friday, June 20 at 10 p.m. (Eastern), the ABC 20/20, the network's news magazine, will tell the story Katherine Underwood's campaign often in disguise to collect the money owed to her by her former boyfriend, Budimir Drakulic. I am interviewed in the show explaining how it's possible for someone to give her partner more than $410,000. I broke the story back in April in an article for the Daily Mail: I'm not done wig you! The many disguises woman wore to spy on an ex-lover who owes her $1.6 m after 20 years. Like a true sociopath, Drakulic never paid. But maybe he will now. ABC News hired a private …

Friday June 20, 10 pm: Katherine Underwood story on ABC 20/20, with commentary by Donna AndersenRead More

Prolonged stress damages children’s learning, behavior and health

June 17, 2014 // by Tracy Andersen// 6 Comments

Extensive research on the biology of stress now shows that the healthy development of children can be derailed by excessive or prolonged activation of stress response systems in the body (especially the brain), with damaging effects on learning, behavior, and health across the lifespan. This topic will be highlighted at the National Coucil of Juvenile and Family and Court Judges in July in Chicago. According to the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child at Harvard University, it's important to distinguish among three kinds of responses to stress: positive, tolerable and toxic. "When toxic stress response occurs continuously, or is triggered by multiple sources, it can have a …

Prolonged stress damages children’s learning, behavior and healthRead More

Donna Andersen on More evidence that psychopaths do not ‘burn out’: “Hi Samson75 – My paper was peer-reviewed and published in the International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology. There’s…”
Joanie Bentz, B.S., M.ED, LBS, CCBP on More evidence that psychopaths do not ‘burn out’: “HI Samson, from what I read of Donna’s article, she had more than 2,000 Lovferaud readers as a valid sample.…”
samson75 on More evidence that psychopaths do not ‘burn out’: “love fraud subscribers are not really a valid sample as they represent people who either have had trouble dealing with…”
Donna Andersen on The relationship between sociopathy/psychopathy and bipolar disorder: “Thank you for your thoughtful comment.”
samson75 on The relationship between sociopathy/psychopathy and bipolar disorder: “The majority of studies show that bipolar and psychopathy can be comorbid, though it is rare. What people likely see…”