Psychopaths are typically described as lacking in empathy. New research from the Netherlands, however, suggests that psychopaths have the capacity for empathy, but it's usually turned off. The study was just published in Brain: A journal of neurology. I heard the first author, Dr. Harma Meffert, present the research when I attended the conference sponsored by the Society for the Scientific Study of Psychopathy in June. The researchers asked convicted criminals, who had been diagnosed as psychopaths, to view short video clips while hooked up to fMRI machines, so that the activity in their brains could be observed. The videos showed two hands interacting in ways that were painful, …
Open letter to Huma Abedin: You’re married to a sociopath
Dear Ms. Abedin, People are perplexed. Your husband, Anthony Weiner, has humiliated you again. Yet at a press conference last week, you continued to support him, and his candidacy for mayor of New York City. "I love him. I have forgiven him. I believe in him," you said. Why would you do this? Speculation by media pundits, New York City voters and average citizens usually follows three themes: You want to keep your family together at all costs. You believe you can help your husband overcome his problems. You are a political animal and will do anything to get your husband elected. Read: Why does Huma Abedin put up with Weiner?, on CNN.com. I don't know you personally, and what I know …
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Sexual predators for mayor: Anthony Weiner and Bob Filner
My husband and I live in New Jersey, close enough to New York City that when Terry goes to the local convenience store for coffee, he can also buy the New York Post. He loves the paper's clever, double entendre headlines and pull-no-punches stories. So when he heard Anthony Weiner was going to run for mayor of New York, he was thrilled. "I can't wait to get the paper," he chortled. "It will be full of Weiner jokes!" Yesterday the news broke—Anthony Weiner was at it again, sexting women he never met. He held a press conference declaring that his behavior was wrong, it was behind him, and he was still a candidate for New York City mayor. His wife Huma Abedin was by his side. She read a s …
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Daily Beast sympathizes with the sociopath
A couple of months ago I was contacted by Caitlin Dickson, a reporter for the Daily Beast blog (the online presence of Newsweek magazine). She was writing an article about the book Confessions of a Sociopath, by M.E. Thomas. She asked me what I thought of the book. I explained that I refused to buy it so I hadn't read it, although I did read Thomas' article in Psychology Today (which was online). Here's my previous post about the book: Confessions of a Sociopath: a book I don't want to buy or read I talked to Dickson about the millions of sociopaths who live among us, and how destructive they are. I explained Lovefraud's work in helping people recognize, avoid or escape them. I …
Letter to Lovefraud: Who will be my hero?
Editor's note: The following post was written by the Lovefraud reader "Winifred." He was her hero. I am his hero. Who will be my hero? I attended my first meeting last week for Adult Children of Alcoholics (ACOA). I am an adult child of an alcoholic mother, but not an alcoholic myself ”¦ thank God! I am telling you this because one of the main characteristics of an ACOA is the compelling feeling we have to always pick relationships where someone needs us to rescue them! When my husband and I got together in 2004, I asked him why he married a sociopath (his ex-wife) and he stated that, "She needed a knight in shining armor, and needed to be rescued." It has been nine years, and I fin …
Con artist Tim Dog raps from the grave
Esther Pilgrim invested $32,000 with rapper Tim Dog but the investment was a scam. She won a court judgment against him, and Tim Dog was paying the minimum —$100 until he suddenly died on Feb. 14, 2013. Except now he's recorded a new song. Rapper may admit death hoax in new song's lyrics, on WREG.com. The story was the subject of an episode of Dateline. See Lovefraud's previous story: Tim Blair, aka rapper Tim Dog, exposed by women who “invested” in his business schemes …
LETTER TO LOVEFRAUD: He is asking for forgiveness
Editor's note: The following article was sent by the Lovefraud reader who posts as "Jov77." It is actually a letter that Jov77 received from a former friend, who he now believes is disordered. Jov77 has stopped contact with this person. He's looking for help in making sense of the letter. (The comments in parentheses are explanations by Jov77.) The letter below was just given to me from this friend I have been closely associated with for some years now. I had numerous challenges in the friendship which left me drained and exhausted so I wrote a letter expressing some thoughts. In the letter I did not ask him for anything in relation to making the friendship better. This person is di …
Con artist picks the wrong target for military scam
Government press releases are so dull. Here's one that arrived in the Lovefraud inbox recently: Hardin County, Kentucky man guilty of impersonating a soldier for financial gain You can read it, if you like. But let me rewrite it for you, and tell you what I think really happened. Jonathan Wade Short's short-lived military scam Jonathan Wade Short, 23, of Hardin County, Kentucky, was trolling the Internet, looking for an easy mark, when he came across A.V. Striking up an online conversation, he learned that A.V. was the daughter of a retired military man. Short immediately told A.V. that they were meant to be together, because he, too, was a soldier. Short claimed that during his …
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Showbiz psychos: ‘Seven Psychopaths’ and ‘Twisted’
This weekend I took a look at personality disorders, as portrayed by Hollywood. I watched the movie Seven Psychopaths. Then I watched the first four episodes of the teen TV series, Twisted. The movie continued the grand Hollywood tradition of equating psychopathy with murder and mayhem. The TV show was surprisingly perceptive in portraying an adolescent who might be a budding sociopath. Seven Psychopaths I was shocked to discover that Seven Psychopaths is described as a "British crime comedy." (Read the plot summary on Wikipedia.) The movie is not funny, unless multiple cold-blooded murders makes you laugh. In my opinion, this movie is stupid. The premise is that a struggling …
Mental health consequences of stalking, and how to cope
A new study documents high rates of post traumatic stress, anxiety and depression among stalking victims. Experts offer suggestions on how to deal with a stalker. Number One: Notify the police. Number Two: No contact. Stalking distress goes unnoticed, on BBC.co.uk Link supplied by a Lovefraud reader. …
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