Lovefraud recently heard from a woman who was concerned for her daughter. Here is her e-mail: Currently, our daughter is married to a sociopath. He has taken us (her parents) for thousands and thousands of dollars, then turned her against us. These people victimize people and are somehow able to make themselves look like the victim. They have 2 small children. He has completely isolated her from her family, including her sister. He completely hates me and has made me the enemy, for I started seeing through him. Do you have any idea how I can possibly reach her to make her see the pattern? This man has felonies on his record for scheming to defraud; he has cheated people all his adult …
How sociopaths are diagnosed
Sociopaths are difficult to identify—in part because they all behave differently, and some are worse than others. There are sociopaths who hold a job, get married, attend church—yet emotionally abuse their families, cheat on their spouses, manipulate their coworkers, steal from their employers, and never get caught. There are sociopaths who never work, torture animals, con their relatives and commit cold-blooded murder—and end up in jail. And there are plenty of sociopaths in between. The point is that sociopaths exhibit a wide range of behaviors. So it is not just the behavior that defines the sociopath—it is the personality traits as well. Dr. Robert Hare has identified the key sym …
He or she is a sociopath–now what?
Before you figure out that you're involved with a sociopath, your dominant state of mind in the relationship is confusion. There are times when he (or she) is the most charming person on Earth. But he has been lying to you for so long that you don't know what is true and what is false. One day he says the two of you are soul mates, the next day he beats you. You're walking around on eggshells, never sure when a minor issue will send him into a rage. Nothing makes any sense—until you realize that you're dealing with a sociopath. Then suddenly, like a bright light coming on in a dark room, it all makes sense. But now, if you're still involved with the predator, you have to decide what …