How to recognize and recover from everyday sociopaths - narcissists

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Brain Science Part 3: Psychopathic brains and punishment

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Editor's note: Third in a series of three articles appearing in other publications on what scientists are learning about the brain and behavior through MRI imaging. A new study finds that psychopaths have abnormalities in the parts of their brains related to learning from punishment. MRI studies were conducted on violent offenders 12 with psychopathy and 20 with antisocial personality disorder but not psychopathy along with 18 healthy non-offenders. Those with psychopathy showed differences in the brain regions associated with empathy, processing of pro-social emotions such as guilt and embarrassment, and moral reasoning. The research showed that the psychopathic offenders failed to l …

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Brain Science Part 1: Teenage brains vulnerable to poor judgment

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Editor's note: First in a series of three articles appearing in other publications on what scientists are learning about the brain and behavior through MRI imaging. Teenage brains are still under construction. MRI imaging has found that while the areas of the brain associated with motor control and hand/eye coordination are fully developed, the parts associated with rational thinking and evaluating future consequences are half-baked. The result: Even smart, well-behaved teenagers are motivated by emotion and pleasure, which can lead them to take dangerous risks. Teens' immature brains pose all sorts of dangers, on Philly.com. Tomorrow: Brains of homicidal juveniles appear to be …

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Marissa Alexander out of jail after being sentenced to 20 years for a warning shot

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In August 2010, nine days she gave birth, Marissa Alexander fired a warning shot to keep her abusive estranged husband, Rico Gray, from attacking her. The bullet hit a wall. Nobody was hurt. Rico Gray admitted that he threatened to kill Marissa Alexander. But she was prosecuted for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, convicted, and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Alexander was awarded a new trial because of a procedural error. In the retrial, the prosecutor a woman wanted to go for a sentence of 60 years. So Alexander took the plea deal of two years of house arrest, wearing a GPS ankle bracelet. She got out of jail last week. The outrageous case sparked widespread protests, …

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Confronting the psychopath

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Last month, Bob Bashara, 57, of Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder of his wife. Jane Bashara, 56, was beaten and strangled in January 2012. Her body was discovered in her Mercedes SUV parked in a Detroit alley, far from the family's upper-class neighborhood. While Jane Bashara worked, earning four times as much money as her husband, Bob Bashara acted like the civic-minded "Mayor of Middlesex," which was the name of the street they lived on. But he had a secret live of BDSM bondage, discipline, sadomasochism and had sex with multiple women in a basement dungeon. Prosecutors alleged that Bob Bashara lured his mentally …

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American Sniper: Sheep, wolves and sheepdogs

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American Sniper, starring Bradley Cooper and directed by Clint Eastwood, is one very intense movie. It tells the story of Chris Kyle, the Navy SEAL sniper with 160 officially confirmed kills, although in his memoir of the same title Kyle says he probably killed twice that number. Regardless of what Lovefraud readers may think about war, guns, the military, Iraq, etc., I want to talk about one scene from the beginning of the movie. In the scene, Chris Kyle is a boy of perhaps 11 or 12, sitting at the dinner table with his family. Earlier in the day, he got into a fight to protect his younger brother. Kyle's father uses the incident to gravely address his boys. He says: “There are three t …

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Childhood adversity and psychiatric disorders affect our cells

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New research suggests that cells can be affected, and the aging process accelerated, by childhood adversity or psychiatric disorders at any age. "Stress exposure and psychiatirc conditions are associated with inflammation and health conditions like diabetes and heart disease," said the study's author, Audrey Tyrka, M.D., Ph.D., as reported by MedicalExpress.com. Connection between childhood adversity and psychiatric disorders seen at cellular level, on Medical Express.com. Thanks to the Lovefraud reader who recently posted this link in a comment. …

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Winter of Wellness – January 20 to March 20

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I just received word of a "Winter of Wellness" event free presentations by 40 holistic health and wellness pioneers. The presentations will take place online and on the phone from January 20 through March 20, 2015. I've been impressed by the work of several of the listed experts, including: David Feinstein Author of the book The Promise of Energy Psychology, which teaches EFT tapping (Emotional Freed Technique), which I believe can help anyone overcome the emotional devastation of an involvement with a sociopath. John Gray, Ph.D. A relationship expert and author of, Men are From Mars, Women are from Venus. Dawson Church Author of The Genie in Your Genes, explaining the link b …

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The ‘warrior gene’ in action

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I learned a new word while investigating the topic of this article, which was suggested by a Lovefraud reader. Here it is: "Contumacious (adj) Stubbornly perverse or rebellious; willfully and obstinately disobedient." This word was used in a court decision to describe the behavior of Joseph D. Morrissey, 57, a lawyer and former member of the Virginia House of Delegates who is running for re-election tomorrow. Here is the context: Frequent episodes of unethical, contumacious, or otherwise inappropriate conduct mar Joseph D. Morrissey's career as prosecutor and private defense attorney. Evidence gathered by F.R.D.E. Counsel and made a part of the record during the hearing before this …

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To see her daughter, American Dawn Willson fights international battle with British ex-husband Alex Willson

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Dawn Willson, 43, just wants to see her daughter. Her British ex-husband, Alex Willson, who lives in Majocar, Almeria, Spain, has primary custody of their 13-year old daughter, Raquel, who is nicknamed "Rocky." According to their court-ordered custody arrangement, Dawn has Rocky for Christmas, Easter and summer vacations. But when she arrived in Spain before Christmas to pick up her daughter, Alex had already taken her out of school. Dawn filed a claim with Spanish police, accusing Alex of the "crime of abduction." She said this is the 13th time in 10 years that Rocky was missing when it was her turn for visitation. Donna Andersen tells the whole story on the Daily Mail: EXCLUSIVE: …

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Paris terrorists and talking about evil

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Three Islamist terrorists shot dead 12 people at the Charlie Hebdo satire magazine in Paris, including four famous cartoonists. The magazine was targeted because its cartoons supposedly defamed the Prophet Muhammad. Actually, Charlie Hebdo was an equal-opportunity offender. The publication criticized anyone who deserved it. In solidarity with Charlie Hebdo, which was among the few media outlets willing to draw attention to evil, Lovefraud has posted one of their cartoons. You can see more here: These are the Charlie Hebdo cartoons that terrorists thought were worth killing over, on HuffingtonPost.com. And here are tributes drawn by other cartoonists from around the world: Charlie …

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