Lovefraud Blog

First in a series of Q&A articles with members of the Lovefraud Professional Resources Guide. Mary Ann Glynn is a licensed clinical social worker based in Bernardsville, New Jersey. Q. What experience have you had dealing with sociopaths or other disordered personalities—personally, professionally, or both? A. In my professional experience, sociopaths and disordered personalities are usually brought into therapy by a significant other, or by the court system for domestic violence or other charges. Since they are incapable of insight or empathy, they may engage initially in therapy to get validation or support, blame their partner, and/or show what they are willing to do for the r …

Lovefraud Professional Resources Guide: Mary Ann GlynnRead More

Editor's note: The following essay was written by the Lovefraud reader "Adelade." Without going into a long, drawn-out recollection of my experiences with sociopaths, I wanted to talk about my “Panic Buttons.” The panic buttons are the same as “triggers,” but I tend to panic, so I see them as “panic buttons.” There is a host of priceless discussion on this site about triggering. I'm one of those types that not only triggers, but I typically fall down a vortex of panic that starts out on the edge of the whirlwind, and I spiral downwards, and inwards, until I'm so disoriented that I don't know how to get out. The “reason” that I tend to panic is because of my past experiences with soci …

Back in control of the panic buttonsRead More

By Joyce Alexander, RNP (retired) I've recognized that my son is a psychopath since 2006, and have cut contact with him. Unfortunately, he has not forgotten me, and sent one of his friends to kill me, and probably intended to, one by one, kill the rest of the family, so he could have everything we collectively own. Every so often Patrick comes up for parole. I have been working with an attorney who “gets it” about psychopaths, and with others, to protest his parole. I have had wonderful support here from the Lovefraud community, many of whom have sent letters to my attorney in support of my parole protest. Many family members and friends have written some wonderful letters as well. Som …

No matter how much you know, sometimes you just fall apart anywayRead More

Have you ever watched a "psychopathic interaction" taking place and wished you were able to approach the non-psychopath and offer her (or him) all of the knowledge you already have on the subject?  I have. Even if you are in the initial phases of learning, the fact that you are here indicates that you have an idea of what is occurring.  In the interaction I will highlight, the non-psychopath was, sadly, without a clue.  At first, I could not believe what I was seeing.  Although, retrospectively, I fail to see what made it unbelievable to me, since I had lived it.  Nonetheless, the goings on made me uneasy.  I knew just enough about the situation to suspect that psychopathy was at play in t …

Witnessing a psychopathic interaction: seeing, knowing, and empathizingRead More

By Joyce Alexander, RNP (retired) Many times our friends, in an effort to be helpful, but not actually understanding what we have been through in a “break up” with a psychopath, may tell us, “It's time you move on with your life, and start dating again,” or words to that effect. Any time you lose something important in your life, you suffer what is known as “grief.” It doesn't matter if that something is a break up of a relationship, a job, a death of someone you love, or you lose the Miss America Pageant when you expected to win. Anything that was important and is lost causes grief. Dr. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, MD, an internationally known psychiatrist, studied grief in the terminally …

Time as a factor in healingRead More