How to recognize and recover from everyday sociopaths - narcissists

I knew immediately something was wrong, but I felt trapped

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Editor's Note:  This SPATH Tale was submitted by the Lovefraud reader who posts under the name "sunshinejan." The names in this story have been changed. I married someone I met online after a relatively short courtship that I and friends/family felt was sufficient to answer our questions and made us feel secure as conservative evangelical Christians about his intentions and character. Once I was married and moved out of the country away from my family and gave up my beloved profession and friends to be with him, I knew immediately something was wrong, but I felt trapped. He abused my credit in two countries and lied before and during the marriage about his financial situation. He …

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Pennsylvania murder spree: PTSD or psychopathy?

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The body of Bradley W. Stone, 35, was discovered Tuesday in the woods about a half-mile from his home in Pennsburg, Pennsylvania, which is outside of Philadelphia. On Monday, Stone killed his ex-wife, Nicole Stone, 35, and five members of her family, authorities say. The killings took place in three separate locations. Stone and his wife began divorce proceedings in 2009. Although the divorce was finalized, they were still battling over custody of their daughters, ages 8 and 5. The daughters are safe. Bradley Stone filed an emergency order for custody this month. The Philadelphia Inquirer quoted Lisa Andrey, a neighbor of Nicole Stone's mother: When the pair first got together "he …

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Josh Powell allegedly murdered his wife; now his family wants a cut of the insurance money

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Editor's note: Five years ago, Susan Powell, a Utah mother of two, went missing. Her body has never been found. This is pretty low By Ann Stevenson Joshua Powell and his father were the chief suspects in Susan Cox Powell's disappearance a few years ago. Josh got sole custody of the couple's children, then moved them to Washington State. The State then found Josh to be unstable and awarded Susan's parents custody of the kids. During a "supervised" visit between the children and Josh Powell, Powell hacked the kids up with an ax and blew the house up, killing himself and his two children. Josh Powell's father, Steven Powell, is a convicted sex offender who was caught with child porn. …

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Why you feel so shattered by the sociopath’s betrayal

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"How can someone who claims to love me be so cruel?" "Do you mean he (she) never loved me? It was all a lie?" "I never knew people like this existed!" When you first begin to realize that you've been involved with a sociopath, you may feel unhinged, like you've lost your bearings in the world and you're drifting. You've had your heart broken before, but no previous relationship compared to this. Even if you've managed to get away from this toxic person, you feel lost. Your well-meaning friends and family are urging you to get over it, to put it behind you, but you can't. Why? Why is it so difficult to overcome the sociopathic experience? I believe it's because nobody talks …

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He makes me believe the lies and sucks me into the drama

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Editor's Note: This SPATH Tale was submitted by the Lovefraud reader who posts by the name "stronginthecity." I am currently in a relationship with a sociopath. I've been with him since June 2013. I was with him before. That relationship ended in 2006, leaving me jobless and depressed because he left the relationship abruptly and literally disappeared. I am a medical professional, so I am the typical target I guess. He resurfaced last year proclaiming his love for me and how much he missed me -- giving three or four reasons, explanations why he left. I kept tabs on him through the years from time to time and found out he was in prison in 2009 for drug charges. He is a constant liar …

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Canadian TV show highlights the ‘successful psychopath’

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Not all psychopaths are killers. Some are leaders in business, politics and other areas who act without conscience, have an inordinate need for power, prestige and wealth, and who are charming, manipulative and ruthless. A show by Canada's CBC-TV, The Psychopath Next Door, provides a chilling and provacative examination of those in our midst who know right from wrong, but feel entitled to do what they want. The show is available online in Canada, but not in the U.S. Interviewed in the show are experts like Dr. Robert Hare, who developed the Psychopathy Checklist Revised, and Dr. Paul Babiak, a psychologist from New York City who says that "psychopaths have traits similar to ideal …

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Brazilian ‘psychopath’ admits to killing 41 people ‘for fun’

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Sailson Jose das Gracas, 26, of Brazil, was arrested for stabbing a woman, and admitted to police that he had murdered 41 people, almost all of them women. "When I wasn't killing someone I got uptight," das Gracas said, according to Agence France-Presse. "I would pace up and down at home. Killing calmed me down." Police described das Gracas as "a psychopath." Brazilian admits to killing 41 people 'for fun,' on MSN.com. Rio man is arrested for stabbing woman to death ”¦ and calmly confesses to another FORTY-ONE murders in nine-year rampage, making him one of history's most prolific known serial killers, on DailyMail.co.uk. Story suggested by a Lovefraud reader. …

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I am not, and never have been mad – just stressed and traumatized because of him

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Editor's note: The following story was submitted by a Lovefraud reader whom we'll call "Laverne." I feel that my life has been basically ruined (and is still being ruined) by the father of my children who is a truly vicious sociopath. He stalks the background of my life like the Grim Reaper feeding off the misery he causes. For anyone who has not had this type of experience it is very hard to explain, as sociopaths, such as my ex partner, appear so 'normal' to others, whilst making you, the victim, seem like the 'mad' one. As we have children together I feel like I am trapped and the only way out is if he were to die. My whole existence is one of nervous terror - waiting for the next …

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Sarah Strudwick Presents: ‘Dark Souls’ – The Aftermath Talk

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Editor's note: Sarah Strudwick, based in the UK, is author of Dark Souls—Healing and recovering from toxic relationships. She has also created a wonderful animation that describes the antics of a sociopath, called Exposing the Mask of Insanity. Sarah Strudwick Presents: 'Dark Souls' — The Aftermath Talk LONDON Saturday 31st January 2015 12.30-2.30 A good way of describing the relationship with a sociopath is to liken it to a Tsunami. Sometimes you are lucky enough to come out of it unscathed but for many you are left with an aftermath  which can take days, months or even years to clean up. Five years ago Sarah Strudwick decided to write Dark Souls fresh out of her  relationship with a …

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Stalker ex-boyfriend shoots Nordstrom worker during busy Black Friday shopping

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Nadia Ezaldein, 22, a law student at a Chicago, IL university, was working at her job at Nordstrom on Black Friday when her ex boyfriend, Marcus Dee, 31, fatally shot her and then turned the gun on himself. Ezaldein had ended her 14-month relationship with Dee in December of 2013 following months of "psychological torment and physical abuse," her family said. In April of 2014 Ezaldein had filed a protection order against Dee, which was denied. Nordstroms was full of customers at 8:30 pm when the shooting occurred but nobody else was hurt. The retailer closed their downtown Chicago store the next day out of respect for their employee and her family and to support the other employees as …

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