The media love a scandal, and the reports about Josh Duggar, of the hit reality TV show 19 kids and counting, just keep coming. First was the report that Josh Duggar, the oldest son of Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, had sexually molested his sisters as a teenager. (Four of the 5 girls Josh Duggar molested were his sisters: Parents, on ktla.com.) Then there were reports that Josh Duggar cheated on his wife and had two accounts on the Ashley Madison cheating website. (Family values activist Josh Duggar had a paid Ashley Madison account, on Gawker.com) Then porn star Danica Dillon alleged that Josh Duggar paid her for sex, and he has "no remorse" for his behavior. (Josh Duggar has 'no remorse' …
Highly Sensitive People are perfect targets for sociopaths
Editor's note: Lovefraud received the following email from a reader who posts as “emotionallyraped.” I visualize a spectrum for 'living beings' on an emotional scale ”¦”¦ from the HSP (highly sensitive people) at one extreme, to sociopaths at the other extreme. I've taken excerpts from some reading online. ----------- The personality trait highly sensitive people, which was first researched by Elaine N. Aron, Ph.D., in the early 1990s, is relatively common, with as many as one in five people, or 20% of the population, possessing it. (Taken from Huffington post) Psychologist Martha Stout — who was a clinical instructor in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School for 25 years — estimates in her boo …
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Do narcissists make better presidents?
In a recent article in the New York Times, Scott O. Lilienfeld (president of the Society for the Scientific Study of Psychopathy) and Ashley L. Watts discussed their research into presidential narcissism and success in office. They estimated the narcissism levels of all United States presidents, up to George W. Bush. The two highest scorers on "grandiose narcissism" were Theodore Roosevelt and Lyndon B. Johnson.They correlated presidential narcissism with surveys of presidential performance developed by historians. The result of the study: "Grandiose narcissism" was associated with overall presidential success, but also with unethical behaviors. The Narcissist in Chief, on NYTimes.com. Link …
Two Legged Snakes – explaining manipulative people with outrageous cartoons
They say picture is worth 1,000 words. The 91 cartoons in Dr. Ed Slack's slender book, Two-legged snakes understanding and handling manipulative people, communicate the essence of sociopaths, narcissists, and other exploiters. The pictures will plant an understanding of disordered people firmly in your brain: They are snakes. In fact, deceptive and manipulative people have been known as snakes for millennia. Dr. Slack points out that the original deceiver, according to Christian, Jewish and Islamic traditions, was the serpent in the Garden of Eden, who tempted Eve to eat the forbidden fruit. He says this Bible story "highlights one of our most important tasks as human beings: to choose well …
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Pathological Liars are Sociopaths, Sociopaths are Pathological Liars
Lies and Cheats I think to myself in retrospect of all the occurrences where the SP was telling a COMPLETE lie. Of course, at the time, I knew something wasn't right, but I wanted him to make it right. I wanted him to prove to me what he was really saying was true, which he never did. For a very long time I did not want to believe he was cheating...that much. I couldn't fathom it. But he was. Surprise Visit I went to teach dance every Thursday evening and he came home from our office early so I could beat the traffic. 9 times out of 10 he was late, so I eventually had to tell him the schedule at work had changed to earlier, so when he was late, I would still be on time. One day I decide …
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LETTER TO LOVEFRAUD: I lost my marriage, my children, my job and my home
Editor's note: Lovefraud received the following email from a woman who calls herself “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.” My story began in high school where we started dating. We were both at the end of our junior year and began dating as summer was beginning. It started off fantastic; I mean that's why I stayed to get back those first few weeks of our relationship. Then the jealously started, the manipulations, the isolation: it was too much for me to take and begin my college years. So I told him we were done; of course this was after he "tried to commit suicide" in front of me by taking a handful of aspirin; he pinned me down in my car in the dorm parking lot and I screamed to the point that someone ca …
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History buff believes Philadelphia serial killer may have been Jack the Ripper
H. H. Holmes killed at least 27 people and possibly many more before he was hanged in a Philadelphia prison in 1896, according to a story in the Philadelphia Inquirer. Before coming to Philadelphia, Holmes built a hotel in Chicago now known as "The Murder Castle." It was equipped with secret tunnels and staircases, gas chambers and more devices for torture and death. Mark Potts, a history buff from Berks County, Pennsylvania, speculates that Holmes may have also been "Jack the Ripper," who murdered five prostitutes in London in 1888. Was Phila. killer Jack the Ripper? on Philly.com. …
History buff believes Philadelphia serial killer may have been Jack the RipperRead More
Pets and recovery from sociopaths
For the first time in 12 years, we've had a dog in the house. Terry and I have been watching our nephew's dog while he and his parents are on vacation. The dog, Cade, is a frisky 15-month-old mix. I don't know what breeds are in the mix, but Cade looks a lot like Beau, the dog I had while married to the sociopath and the dog who kept me company as I recovered from my ex-husband's destruction. I've been having flashbacks. Cade follows me around the house the way Beau did. He curls up in the same spots on the carpet that Beau liked. And he gets in the same kind of trouble that Beau did when he was young. I'm loving every minute of it (okay, I could do with a little less chewing). Cade …
How to protect yourself online
The Internet is now an integral part of our lives, so it's important to know how to protect ourselves online. The U.S.government has created a great website, OnGuardOnline.gov, with all kinds of information on exactly how to do that. Lovefraud strongly recommends that you take a look at it watch the videos and read some articles with great tips for staying safe. Here are a few good ones: Common online scams Computer security Using IP cameras safely Resource provided by a Lovefraud reader …
Maintaining No Contact with a Sociopath
Boundaries? I Don't Know What Those Are It's amazing how even after years and months go by of you making it perfectly clear what kind of contact you want with the sociopath, they don't reciprocate your boundaries. I think it's just mind boggling over and over again in my mind that this concept of boundaries is so foreign to them, and they have no means, let alone intentions, of adhering to them. I mean normal people who find out other people don't want them to contact them anymore, just...stop. But the sociopath does the exact opposite. They continue to push buttons, push boundaries, push limits. There is a constant alertness on the part of the person that set up the boundaries against t …