How to recognize and recover from everyday sociopaths - narcissists

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I knew immediately something was wrong, but I felt trapped

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Editor's Note:  This SPATH Tale was submitted by the Lovefraud reader who posts under the name "sunshinejan." The names in this story have been changed. I married someone I met online after a relatively short courtship that I and friends/family felt was sufficient to answer our questions and made us feel secure as conservative evangelical Christians about his intentions and character. Once I was married and moved out of the country away from my family and gave up my beloved profession and friends to be with him, I knew immediately something was wrong, but I felt trapped. He abused my credit in two countries and lied before and during the marriage about his financial situation. He …

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Pennsylvania murder spree: PTSD or psychopathy?

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The body of Bradley W. Stone, 35, was discovered Tuesday in the woods about a half-mile from his home in Pennsburg, Pennsylvania, which is outside of Philadelphia. On Monday, Stone killed his ex-wife, Nicole Stone, 35, and five members of her family, authorities say. The killings took place in three separate locations. Stone and his wife began divorce proceedings in 2009. Although the divorce was finalized, they were still battling over custody of their daughters, ages 8 and 5. The daughters are safe. Bradley Stone filed an emergency order for custody this month. The Philadelphia Inquirer quoted Lisa Andrey, a neighbor of Nicole Stone's mother: When the pair first got together "he …

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Josh Powell allegedly murdered his wife; now his family wants a cut of the insurance money

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Editor's note: Five years ago, Susan Powell, a Utah mother of two, went missing. Her body has never been found. This is pretty low By Ann Stevenson Joshua Powell and his father were the chief suspects in Susan Cox Powell's disappearance a few years ago. Josh got sole custody of the couple's children, then moved them to Washington State. The State then found Josh to be unstable and awarded Susan's parents custody of the kids. During a "supervised" visit between the children and Josh Powell, Powell hacked the kids up with an ax and blew the house up, killing himself and his two children. Josh Powell's father, Steven Powell, is a convicted sex offender who was caught with child porn. He …

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I am not, and never have been mad – just stressed and traumatized because of him

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Editor's note: The following story was submitted by a Lovefraud reader whom we'll call "Laverne." I feel that my life has been basically ruined (and is still being ruined) by the father of my children who is a truly vicious sociopath. He stalks the background of my life like the Grim Reaper feeding off the misery he causes. For anyone who has not had this type of experience it is very hard to explain, as sociopaths, such as my ex partner, appear so 'normal' to others, whilst making you, the victim, seem like the 'mad' one. As we have children together I feel like I am trapped and the only way out is if he were to die. My whole existence is one of nervous terror - waiting for the next …

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LETTER TO LOVEFRAUD: Hindsight is 20/20; his love was all a fraud (Part 3 – Escape, Freedom and Love)

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Editor's Note: This letter to Lovefraud was submitted by the Lovefraud reader who goes by the name "Lil' Bit." This is a three-part letter. Read Part 1 — The Imbalance. Part 2 — Absolute Power. This is Part 3.   We get married and my son goes to trade school Now, it was decided when we left for our honeymoon July of 2010 that the $600 a month X had been collecting since the previous April (and keeping) in rent from my property would become only $300 beginning that August -- allowing my son to then keep $75 weekly for his needs. It was also at this time that my son, following through with his part in our plans for him, began Trade school. He graduated that following May and becam …

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LETTER TO LOVEFRAUD: Hindsight is 20/20; his love was a fraud (Part 2 – Absolute power)

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Editor's Note: This letter to Lovefraud was submitted by the Lovefraud reader who goes by the name "Lil' Bit." This is a three-part letter. Read Part 1 — The Imbalance. This is Part 2 — Absolute Power. Kindhearted people too often are preyed upon by Narcissists  I have known many Narcissists in my lifetime. I had not yet been schooled on the psychology of narcissism though, but looking back now, obviously my education had begun, I just had not realized yet what it was that I was seeing. I chuckle still as I recall X exclaim that he could relate well with all my exes, evil men, drug addicts, pedophiles, violent men and thieves, who like him, once they realized they could not be who they …

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LETTER TO LOVEFRAUD: Hindsight is 20/20; his love was a fraud (Part 1 – The imbalance)

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Editor's Note: This letter to Lovefraud was submitted by the Lovefraud reader who goes by the name "Lil' Bit." This is a three-part letter. This is Part 1 — The Imbalance. I have never been ashamed of surviving what others are capable of, in fact once I fight back the bitterness and anger I fill with pride that it wasn't in my heart to even fathom their true intent. Inasmuch as it hurts to breathe the stagnant air of the world's disease, too many, looking out for themselves at any cost, I would rather endure the hell I have, losing all that others covet in their attempts to emulate what they can only pretend to be. I prefer it be that I don't have it in my heart to see such things e …

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LETTER TO LOVEFRAUD: Alone. Exhausted. Lonely. Stressed. Stuck.

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Editor's note: This letter was submitted by the Lovefraud reader whom we'll call “Billyjean.” All names in this letter have been changed. Donna Andersen will comment on this story tomorrow. When I met "Joseph," I had been through my fair share of heartbreak. I was a single mum with a five-year-old little girl, who had little contact with her dad, a Swedish national, and, as I was from overseas, I had no family here. No grandma and grandpa for her, no aunties or uncles. I had to be everything. I did my best to give her a happy home. Dating as a single parent is tricky. You have to consider carefully when is the right time to introduce a prospective new partner to your little one …

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My ex-husband and his mother both have narcissistic personality disorder

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Editor's Note: This SPATH Tale was submitted by the Lovefraud reader whom we'll call “Mary Agnes.” I married a Narcissist and am SO glad we are not together anymore! It took stupid love-blind me a few years to work out what my Narcissist-ex husband was doing. In short, he was stealing money from my family wealth over the years and giving it to his mother to spend on first class travel, cars, paintings, clothes, etc. I spoke to a psychologist who informed me that it was likely that his mother and he were both narcissistic personality disorders, plus he was co-dependent on his mother. He stole to feed his mother, both of them without empathy. In fact, his mother was really nasty to me t …

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I still feel like a fool for being blinded by love

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 Editor's Note: This SPATH Tale was submitted by the Lovefraud reader whom we'll call "Gerald." At age 62, I married a gal I'd been in love with all my life. I'd known her in high school and when I re-connected with her I felt that my two divorces were just dues I had to pay to get "the real thing." I told her that marrying her was like winning the lottery for me. She soon began to manifest some troubling behaviors fabricating supposed cheating incidents that never happened and misunderstanding small incidents. She became hyper-critical of everything I said or did. The first real clue I had to the nature of the problem was when I mentioned a book I'd read, "The Sociopath Next Door." …

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