How to recognize and recover from everyday sociopaths - narcissists

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Love Fraud book excerpt: One more massive lie from my sociopath husband

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My husband, James Montgomery, convinced me to move to Florida by saying he had a deal to launch our new Titanic Exhibition. He lied. I was broke. Now what were we going to do? By Donna Andersen By the first week of February 1999, James had been in Orlando for more than two months. I’d been there for six weeks. I was still working on plans for the exhibition at Wild Bill’s, and needed more information about the facility’s dimensions. I called the dinner theater’s office. “We have the Titanic exhibition that’s going into Wild Bill’s,” I said to the manager who answered the phone. “I’d like to stop by and take some more measurements.” “The Titanic exhibition!” exclaimed the manager. …

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Why can’t I leave? 5 years with a malignant narcissist

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I was in a 5 year relationship with a malignant narc.  When I first laid eyes on him, I was infatuated!! But he was married, and I don’t mess with married men.   A few years later I ran into him and he was single, so I asked him out and the rest is history. Our first date he took me to a party in the middle of nowhere, and left me sit there all night by myself.  I should have run at that moment and never looked back. Then we went back to his house and had sex, yes on the first date!!! A few weeks later, he made it official that we were a couple, and I was elated!! I moved in with him 2 weeks after our first date.  Everything was wonderful, I couldn’t get enough of this man. It was bliss fo …

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How to date after a narcissist, sociopath or other exploiter

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When you're thinking about starting to date after a narcissist, sociopath or other exploiter, the last thing you need to hear is some so-called expert telling you to fix your low self-esteem. I just read an article on PsychCentral, and the author says the reason you attracted a narcissist in the first place is because you lack confidence. Hello?? I, for one, was not lacking in self-esteem when my sociopathic ex waltzed into my life. I've heard from plenty of successful, accomplished men and women who also found themselves in relationships with disordered individuals. Self-esteem is not the issue. So what is the issue? Actually there are three: Lack of awareness We fall for …

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Love Fraud book excerpt: Because of my husband, I was about to lose everything

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Finally, my husband, James Montgomery, found a project that might actually become reality — a Titanic Exhibition. He and a partner had secured investors, we'd assembled a collection of artifacts, I was planning the show — and then it all fell apart. By Donna Andersen On Thanksgiving morning, as usual, James got up long before me and went down to his office in the basement, even though he just flew in from Las Vegas the day before. I was in the kitchen, getting ready to prepare my contribution to the day’s feast—a casserole of carrots and apples—when he came upstairs, wearing his bathrobe. “We should leave around one o’clock for my uncle’s house,” I said. “All right,” James replied …

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3 Tips for polite conversation about relationship abuse

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I recently attended a small party — about 15 people — at a friend's home. I got into a conversation with two women, neither of whom I knew before. They both revealed that, like me, they had endured relationship abuse. We started swapping stories. The first woman worked hard all her life, built a successful career, and then married the guy who, over about seven years, took advantage of her assets. She described his lies, mostly about money, as "gaslighting." The second woman had three children with a man who turned out to be a controller, moving her away from family and friends. She spent 20 years trying to shield the children from his destructive ways, then finally divorced him. I wa …

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Wednesday Webinar: Why it’s hard to get over a sociopath and how to recover

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I hear from many people who have escaped from involvements with sociopaths — either because they've finally found the courage to leave, or were unceremoniously dumped. They are often in a lot of emotional pain, and, knowing how badly they were treated, they can't understand why it is so hard to get over loving a sociopath. If you're in this situation, you know what I'm talking about. Why does this happen? When you're involved with a sociopath, the thrill at the beginning of the relationship is so intense, that the crash when the relationship ends is worse than anything you've ever experienced. And why does this happen? Because the sociopath hijacks the human bonding system. I e …

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FTC: Americans lose $143 million in romance scams last year

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 Editor's note: Here's a press release from the Federal Trade Commission, February 12, 2019: New FTC Data Spotlight details big jump in losses, complaints about romance scams Scammers who use love to target consumers not only take an emotional toll on their victims, but can also take a financial one as well. New complaint data released today by the Federal Trade Commission shows romance scams generated more reported losses than any other consumer fraud type reported to the agency in 2018. In the last three years, many more consumers have reported romance scams to the FTC’s Consumer Sentinel database, with much higher total reported losses from those scams, according to the Comm …

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Love Fraud book excerpt: What I did about my husband’s cheating

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I had been married to James Montgomery for about a year and a half, and he went on overnight and weekend "business trips" the entire time. I didn't want to think about what he was doing — until I had to. By Donna Andersen My husband was cheating on me. The letter from the Bank of Boston credit card department confirmed it. This was the credit card I had given to James. He spent the money; I paid the bills. On the March statement was a charge for the Berlin Motor Lodge. I knew exactly where this place was and what it looked like. It was a small highway motel on Route 73 in Berlin, New Jersey, 35 minutes from where we lived in Atlantic City. There was absolutely no reason for James to …

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Wednesday webinar: Escaping the Sociopath and Rebuilding Your Life

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You finally realize that there is something dramatically wrong with your partner. What you really want is to feel better. But how do you go about escaping the sociopath? That's what I address in the next webinar of the Lovefraud Understanding and Recovery 5-part Masterclass. The first three programs in the series explained how you got into the situation — the bottom line is that sociopaths are very, very good at what they do, and you were targeted. Now, in the webinar Escaping the Sociopath and Rebuilding Your Life, we'll be talking about how to move forward. And that's what you really want. There are two parts to your recovery — dealing with the practical issues of life, and emo …

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Letter to a sociopathic ex: You ruined me

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Editor's note: Lovefraud received the following letter from a reader whom we'll call "Claudette19." I hope this letter explains to you all what I have been through and how I am still trying to recover from the impact. Dear ex Only by staying away from you did I begin to see your destructiveness and I had to detox from your trauma. For almost 4 years you projected all your anger from your past/present onto me. You did this by calling me a c**t b**h, throwing things at me, charging at me, hurting me, threatening to kill yourself, bullying me and breaking things. You were unpleasant, manipulative and you constantly lied to me. You told me you were the only person who knew how to love me, …

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