How to recognize and recover from everyday sociopaths - narcissists

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How Career Con Artists Take Risks With Your Career, Reputation, and Resources

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Editor's note: The following story was contributed by the Lovefraud reader "Abbie123." Names have been changed. A while ago, I was going through a difficult break up when an acquaintance friend of mine named "George" invited me to "get away from it all" at a conference held on an exclusive resort island, no strings attached. Although George and I had only known each other a few weeks, I was vulnerable and the rare opportunity to boost my own spirits and career by spending a weekend mingling with an elite group of international business leaders in my professional field in the lap of luxury so far from my painful reality seemed irresistible. But that was not what happened in reality. As i …

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Divorcing A Sociopath: The First Steps Are The Most Difficult

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by Quinn Pierce I remember walking along the sidewalk, the ice-covered snow crunching under my feet.  The moonlight did nothing to warm winter's night air, but I couldn't feel the cold. I just walked. One foot in front of the other. Next to me, my dog, Sammy, followed my pace keeping her long Great Dane legs in short strides.  This was our usual Saturday night outing since separating from my ex-husband.  It was the only thing I could bring myself to do instead of sitting at home, missing my children and crying. I tried so hard to shield them from the angry and hurt emotions swirling around my dissolving marriage.  I believed it was best to try to foster a healthy relationship between …

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Shellie Zimmerman, George Zimmerman’s estranged wife, speaks out about abuse

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George Zimmerman shot and killed Trayvon Martin, 17, in Sanford, Florida, the night of February 26, 2012. Despite the media circus that followed, and Zimmerman's high-profile trial last summer that ended with his acquittal, I have never written about this case. Although it was a big story, I wasn't sure it was a Lovefraud story. Most of the media attention focused on the racial aspects of the case. Most of the debate was on whether or not justice was served. Neither of these issues necessarily correlates with sociopathy. There were a few hints that Zimmerman had sociopathic traits. In fact, a writer by the name of Shawn James did a good job of outlining them in his blog article, Why I …

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Lovefraud Professional Resources Guide: Patricia Jackson, B.A., CAC III

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Lovefraud presents a series of Q&A articles with members of the Professional Resources Guide. Patricia Jackson is a Psychiatrist, psychologist and therapist, who specializes in depression, women's issues, parenting, legal abuse, anxiety, eating disorders, substance abuse, victim of injustice, isolation, and special needs of intuitives and artists. She also offers expert evaluation and court testimony on issues of abuse and psychological torture, victimization assessments, treatment recommendations and provision and substance abuse. Q. What experience have you had dealing with sociopaths or other disordered personalities—personally, professionally, or both? A. I have been personally an …

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What’s in Alec Baldwin’s wallet? Not pledge support from WNYC member

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Editor's note: The following post was written by the Lovefraud reader who posts as "Jennifer." "Alec Baldwin can always be counted on to give a good performance, whether on television or on the witness stand, and his testimony in State Supreme Court in Manhattan on Tuesday was no exception." That's a quote from the New York Times article about Alec Baldwin's stalking case entitled, In Court, Baldwin Tells of a Stalker 'Out of Hitchcock.' According to the article, Mr. Baldwin alleges that he has been "harassed" and "stalked" by a woman he "painted" as "...both delusional and dangerous."  And, while it appears that the woman's behavior has certainly been extreme since their "meeting" …

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Recovery From A Sociopath: Next Steps

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Some of our greatest life lessons are learned after we think we already passed the test. I believed that ending my marriage to a sociopath would be the defining step to my recovery and healing.  I committed myself to a healthy lifestyle, and practiced the long-forgotten skill of believing in myself and trusting my instincts. So, it came as quite a surprise that there was much more work to be done if I wanted to rid my life of the residual effects of a toxic fifteen year relationship. Starting Over By the time I met the man who would turn out to be the real love of my life, I thought I had grown and healed much more than I actually had. Not eager to start a new relationship, I spent …

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Narcissists at work

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A Lovefraud reader sent me a link to a free e-book. The reader's only comment was, "ugh."  Here's the book: The Upside of Narcissism in the Workplace The book was created by Hogan Assessment Systems. On its website, this company says, "Hogan uses the powerful science of personality assessment to help you hire the right people, develop talented employees, build great leaders, and impact the bottom line." I downloaded the e-book. It's very short only nine pages. It points out that young people in general exhibit more narcissism than in the past, but in "controlled doses," narcissism may be good for an employee's career. The e-book points out the potential pitfalls of narcissism. …

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Three-part series on the criminal brain of sociopaths

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NPR radio explores the criminal brain in this three-part series of reports. Part One:  A Neuroscientist Uncovers A Dark Secret James Fallon, a  neuroscientist at the University of California-Irvine, believes that psychopathic tendencies may be passed through the DNA of family members and that upbringing can determine if the tendencies get triggered. Part Two: Inside A Psychopath's Brain: The Sentencing Debate Kent Kiehl, a professor at the University of New Mexico, reports that some psychopaths are born with certain parts of their brain not working like the brains of non-psychopaths. For example,  their emotional circuit does not engage in the same way as non-psychopaths and therefore wha …

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Lovefraud Professional Resources Guide: Barbara Monett, LCSW

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Lovefraud presents a series of Q&A articles with members of the Professional Resources Guide. Barbara Monett is a clinical social worker in California specializing in therapy for individuals facing problems of addiction and/or codependency. Q. What experience have you had dealing with sociopaths or other disordered personalities—personally, professionally, or both? A. Professionally—I am trained as a clinical social worker and have also completed the Hendricks Coaching Program for Couples and Individuals in Ojai, CA., as well as numerous other related trainings on mindfulness, codependency recovery, substance abuse recovery. I have personally been involved with Alanon, Coda, AA for over …

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