Editor's note: Lovefraud received the following story from a reader whom we'll call "Gemma." I married my sociopath after a whirlwind long-distance relationship. He swept me off my feet, seemed to love everything I loved. He introduced me to his family, I found soon after he had been married three times before. He said he married his first wife because she was pregnant, his second to get her into the country (she was Columbian), and he married his third wife to give her a feeling of security. I later found out he had cheated on every one of them. He told me he loved me and had saved the best 'til last. Things were OK to begin with, then I started noticing his control. He would tell …
Study suggests neurofeedback to treat criminal psychopaths
Experts generally believe that once psychopaths are adults, it's pretty much impossible to rehabilitate their disorder. However, Dr. Lilian Konicar of Eberhard-Karls University in Germany recently conducted a study in which they taught hardened criminals to control their brain activity using neurofeedback. According to Real Clear Science, Dr. Konicar is "conservatively optimistic." A new treatment for criminal psychopaths? on RealClearScience.com. …
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How to protect yourself from sociopathic charm
Editor's note: Lovefraud received the following article from a user whom we'll call "Fiona." I'm currently being discarded. He has someone else lined up already, I found that out by reading his cellphone. I have moved towns already and he may have been sleeping with other people on and off throughout our relationship. I have found “no contact” very difficult. However, I think after my last visit back to see him, I've reached a stage where the absolute pointlessness of it is impossible to ignore. I know he has never cared for me. I don't want to tell the details of my story, but rather to point out a couple of things that I've found to be lifelines out of this situation. I knew it was ba …
BOOK REVIEW: ‘Splitting’ – Critical help for divorcing a personality disordered husband or wife
SPLITTING: Protecting Yourself While Divorcing Someone with Borderline or Narcissistic Personality Disorder, by Bill Eddy, LCSW, JD, and Randi Kreger, coauthor of Stop Walking on Eggshells Review by James Sullivan, Ph.D. Advertised as “the legal and psychological advice you need,” this is an invaluable guide for those in the vulnerable position described by the title. This is a most readable book, the text supplemented with helpful charts and bulleted notes. The authors pay attention to the myths and realities of the courtroom and the “dynamics of persuasiveness.” They warn against thinking that judges will find the behavior of the PD (personality disordered) person obvious. In fact, th …
The Borderline Male ‘Psycho’: 7 Red Flags
[youtube_sc url=https://youtu.be/EhSxySoZV-w] By Jade Joddle The 7 red flags of a psycho as represented in the animation above are based on observations of family life as I was growing up in an unstable home. My mother had an extremely turbulent dating life, and attracted men with obsessive and stalkerish tendencies as a repeating pattern. For me as a child, home was most definitely not safe. The 'psycho' you see represented in the video is a borderline male who has deep emotional wounds in relation to abandonment. He lives in a permanent state of emotional conflict because more than anything he wants to be in a loving relationship, but yet the very act of getting close to someone …
A psychology professor asks: ‘Can you recognize a psychopath?’
Robert Durst, the real estate mogul and accused killer recently featured in an HBO documentary, seems to match the common public perception of a psychopath. But Pascal Wallisch, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at New York University, points out that the public perception of psychopaths is not entirely accurate. In an article for Slate.com, Wallisch does a good job of describing the current scientific understanding of this personality disorder. Can you recognize a psychopath? on Slate.com. I do, however, disagree with one of his statements. He says that psychopaths can't help their behavior. This is not true. Psychopaths are quite capable of controlling their behavior …
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Appalling, shocking, psychopathic behavior, and acting before you have evidence
I've collected more than 10,000 Lovefraud cases, all of them atrocious tales of deceit and betrayal. Even so, the behavior of Loretta Burroughs, 63, of Mays Landing, New Jersey, was way over the top, heinous beyond belief. On August 3, 2007, Loretta stabbed her husband to death, dismembered his body, packed the remains into plastic totes and dragged them around from house to house, until they were discovered on May 17, 2013. She told her friends and family that Daniel Burroughs, 63 at the time, had left her for a younger woman. They had driven off in a yellow Hummer with Florida license plates. Last week, Loretta Burroughs was convicted of murder. I covered the trial for the Daily …
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LETTER TO LOVEFRAUD: My story about a family of sociopaths, or, how I got bankrupted the gentleman way
Editor's note: Lovefraud received the following letter from a Greek woman, whom we'll call "Alessia." Names have been changed. In Greece I had a quiet life. I kept living with my Greek husband on a small island, we had a small rented house and a cute doggie called Fiffi. In Greece I got baptized as an orthodox Christian and got a new first name “Alessia”. Everything was just great until the economic crisis hit the island seriously. We had to leave, so we decided to move to Germany. After a move in summer 2011, I desperately tried to find a job in Germany. My Greek husband did not speak any German by that time. Our marriage did not survive the move so we considered to have a divorce. Thi …
Police say 15-year-old boys shoot and kill a man who was walking his dog
James Stuhlman, 51, of the Overbrook section of Philadelphia, was walking his dog last week when he was allegedly killed by three teenagers in a totally senseless murder. They were going to rob him. One of them had a gun. "Please don't shoot me," he begged. One of the boys allegedly shot him. Then they ran away, without taking anything. All three suspects are now in custody. Philadelphia 15-year-olds murdered married father in failed robbery: cops, on NYDailynews.com. Alleged teenage gunman in Overbrook murder surrenders, on 6abc.com. …
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LETTER TO LOVEFRAUD: A sociopath’s power over uninformed humans
Editor's note: Lovefraud received the following email from a reader who calls herself, "Emotionallyraped." You meet him (or her). He is charming and kind and exciting. He takes an interest in you and you feel special. He studies you. He learns your likes and dislikes, strengths and weaknesses. He becomes exactly who you want him to be. He mirrors you. He is a chameleon. He tells you things you want to hear. He is intense. He quickly declares his love for you. He talks about plans for the future. He convinces you that you are meant to be together. This love is like nothing else you've ever experienced. You are high with happiness. You feel sorry for other people who don't have the love …
LETTER TO LOVEFRAUD: A sociopath’s power over uninformed humansRead More