How to recognize and recover from everyday sociopaths - narcissists

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Video: Why we mistakenly feel guilty when we’re abused by a sociopath

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[youtube_sc url="https://youtu.be/gdrim7Kt5BM"]When Travis Vining was a young man, his sociopathic father murdered a man — one of four people he killed — and then manipulated Travis into helping him destroy evidence. For years after that, Travis experienced guilt and emotional pain that manifested as physical illnesses. But that is in the past. Travis has overcome the experience and now helps others recover from their entanglements with sociopaths. In his upcoming webinar he'll explain how to do it: Self-forgiveness: Understanding and letting go of guilt Presented by Travis Vining Tuesday, August 14 • 8-9 pm ET • $25 More info …

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10 years of hope and heartbreak with a sociopathic woman, Part 2

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Editor's note: Lovefraud received the following story from a reader whom we'll call "Trevor." Read Part 1. Part 3 will be published tomorrow. Needless to say, contact between us stopped for a long time. A year went by and one day I opened my e-mail and there was a letter from her. My father had passed away the week before and she had read it in the paper and was saying sorry for my loss and for all she had done. She added she hoped I didn't hate her and that she missed us talking the way we once did. I fell for it. I replied and told her I didn't hate her, that I missed her too and before long it was on again. This time her struggle was with the wedding that was coming up. She had agreed …

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10 years of hope and heartbreak with a sociopathic woman, Part 1

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Editor's note: Lovefraud received the following story from a reader whom we'll call "Trevor." This is Part 1 of 3. Part 2 will be published tomorrow. I became involved over 10 years ago. We met while on a wine tour, she was with another man and he was with her on this tour. She approached me at the bar, asked me where my girlfriend was. I told her I didn't have one at the time and asked her where the boyfriend was. She replied, I sent him to the bus so I could talk to you. I made an excuse to leave and did my best to ignore it the rest of the night. A few weeks later at a wedding reception I see her again. She's a very beautiful woman and was dressed to kill. Again she's with the same …

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Language habits to help me remember that my ex was abnormal

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Editor's note: Three years ago, Lovefraud posted a story that we received from a reader whom we called, "Maura." Read it here: "After 30 years with a sociopath, she's now having the time of her life."  Maura is now about 70 years old and just sent Lovefraud an update. She included one of her recovery strategies, which she was graciously willing to share with Lovefraud readers. I wanted you to know that I gave up on "being friends" with the ex, and on trying to rescue the other victim (the main one; I'm sure there were others I did not know about). There have been many happy experiences in my new, free life. I am in a positive relationship, but I set strong boundaries and I resist any d …

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Laura Rubiales ND, LAc, joins the Lovefraud Professional Resources Guide

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Editor's note: I am pleased to welcome Laura Rubiales, ND, LAc, to the Lovefraud Professional Resources Guide. Dr. Rubiales is a doctor of naturopathy and a licensed acupuncturist. What experience have you had dealing with sociopaths or other disordered personalities—personally, professionally, or both? Unfortunately, I have dealt with sociopaths and other disordered personalities both personally and professionally. The field of medicine, along with many other professional fields where people have authority over others, seems to attract a high rate of narcissistic personality disorder. I also got conned by a sociopath presenting as my soul mate and I was deeply humbled by how well t …

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Pain as motivation for escaping the sociopath

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A couple of weeks ago, I posted an article entitled, How to overcome your addiction to sociopaths. In it, I offered three steps for changing a pattern of falling in love with sociopaths. The steps are:  No Contact with the current sociopath Do not date anyone for the time being Heal the vulnerabilities The real work is in the third step — healing your vulnerabilities. What I suggest sounds somewhat like the good advice that we get on many topics, like: Eat your vegetables Make time for regular exercise Cut down on sugar, carbs and alcohol Get enough sleep We all know we should do all these things, but do we do them? How often do we skip going to the gym, or po …

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Kiley White, 26, allegedly claims brain cancer to con people into caring for her

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Linda and Steve Evans, of Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey offered their love, support and home to Kiley White, 26, who they believed was battling brain, kidney, liver and bone cancer. White lived with them for five weeks, moaning all night, supposedly in pain. It was all a ruse. She'd pulled the scam before. But this time, White was arrested and charged wit theft by deception and harassment. In court a few days ago, she smirked and laughed at the family she conned. Can anyone say psychopath? EHT family opens up home to woman who allegedly lied about her illness, on PressOfAtlanticCity.com. Woman faked brain cancer, stayed with South Jersey family for 5 weeks, police say, on …

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Co-workers didn’t identify a sociopath, but knew something was wrong

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It reads like a typical Lovefraud story, where a guy seduces a woman with claims of love, financial stability, and even military service in the Special Forces. But the story is posted on Reddit, and it wasn't posted by the victim, but by one of her co-workers at a big box retailer. The co-worker posts: She recently meets a guy on OKCupid (let's call him Miguel). Miguel claims to live in a bigger city than ours, an hour away (we are in the middle of nowhere in Kansas) and that he is 35 years old, also claims to be a virgin, and takes an interest in Jane. They chat for a while, and she's very excited. Once they establish a fondness for eachother, he claims that he has a $250K in …

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He got everything he could from me, and then discarded me

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Editor's note: Lovefraud received the following letter from a reader whom we'll call "Emilie18." I met him in October on a dating site. He was 4 years younger than me – 59. His profile picture showed a rugged, good-looking middle aged man. His profile said he said he was ex military, ex truck driver, had a stroke and was losing his sight but wanting to travel. We chatted on the site for a week - he claimed he moved to my state to live with his brother after a nasty divorce 6 months before and had two married, adult kids living in Kentucky. He lived in a town 100 miles away. He wrote every day, then after a week, I gave him my number. He had a charming southern accent. I met him at a r …

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Wow! Lori Isenberg allegedly embezzles a half-million dollars, then her husband ends up dead

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On Feb. 13, 2018, Laurcene (Lori) Barnes Isenberg, 64, reported to authorities that her husband, Larry Dean Isenberg, had fallen out of their boat into Lake Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Authorities have just released records indicating that he did not die of a heart attack or drown — he had lethal levels of Benadryl in his system. Then Lori Isenberg was arrested for embezzling $500,000 from the North Idaho Housing Coalition, where she was the director. She failed to show up at her arraignment in June and is now missing. Now, two of Lori Isenberg's daughters, Jessica Barnes and Amber Hosking, are under investigation for conspiracy to commit theft and conspiracy to commit murder. Stay t …

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