By Ox Drover
As an advanced practice nurse, one of the things I did here in the rural area where parasites are common was warn people about the many diseases, several of them potentially fatal, caused by a common parasite, the tick.
Here on LoveFraud we often refer to psychopaths as “parasites” because, like a common blood-sucking tick, they feed off of a host, without giving any benefit to the host, or giving any more thought to the damage they do to the host than a common tick does as he burrows into your flesh.
In the warmer months of the year, the tick searches for anything that is warm and moves and can actually leap small distances to latch on to the host. They like to burrow into the skin in a “tight spot,” like under your waistband or some other hidden area. Frequently, too, they will actually group up in one spot on the host, and when you detach the biggest tick on top, you will find several other smaller ones hidden beneath who are also sucking blood from the same spot.
Parasites, just like the psychopath, take without giving. Sometimes the parasites actually do give you something, but it is usually in the form of some noxious, toxic and potentially fatal or debilitating disease. In the case of ticks, one of the more common diseases they pass on is Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, which is a disease caused not by their bite, but by an infectious agent in their feces which can actually pass through intact skin. A few days after the tick has either dropped off voluntarily, sated with the host’s blood, or been pulled off, frequently leaving behind both feces and mouth parts imbedded in the skin, the host will start to feel ill and run a fever. People with RMSF usually break out in a rash that resembles measles. Frequently the host doesn’t even realize what has happened, and may not actually remember being bitten by a tick. With prompt treatment, 93 percent of the victims will live, but without treatment, as many as 20 percent of the victims will die of either the disease itself or complications induced by the illness.
My bout with Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever
A couple of summers ago, I noticed that I wasn’t feeling well. It was during the worst of the fear and chaos of my experience with a multitude of psychopaths all at once, so I wasn’t thinking really clearly in any case. I attributed my “feeling bad” to the stress I was under for a couple of months until I became so weak I could not even climb a flight of stairs or stand up long enough to wash a small sink full of dishes by hand. I had noticed a tick bite, one that had been on me for at least 24, and probably 36 hours, before I noticed it and removed it.
When I became so ill that I literally was as “weak as a kitten” I finally decided to put a thermometer in my mouth and found I had a fever of 101 degrees, so I called my physician. He drew blood after I had reported to him the tick bite a couple of months before, and sure enough, I had Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, though I had not broken out in the usual rash. I was so ill however, that my physician scheduled a battery of other tests and an appointment is a blood specialist and an infectious disease specialist. It took me almost a year to regain my strength and to start to feel better, but fortunately I ended up not having any lasting effects from the disease.
Remove the parasite promptly
Like ticks, psychopaths usually take a little time to not only suck your blood, but to transmit disease. If ticks are removed promptly, even if they have bitten you, there is little likelihood that they will infect you with something fatal. If they have time to deeply burrow into your skin, the longer they are there, the greater the likelihood that they will leave something behind that will cause problems for you. It may only be a painful, red, itching lesion that seems to drive you crazy with wanting to scratch to the bone, or it may be a disease that will land you in the ICU or the morgue, or cripple you with arthritis later on, like Lymes.
Not all diseases passed on to humans or other mammals by ticks and other parasites are as easily identifiable as RMSF. Some diseases that are potentially fatal have no reliable blood test to indicate that they are present. The person feels bad, but there is no objective symptom that can be identified either by the victim or the medical practitioner until great damage has occurred. These occult (unidentified) diseases may go undetected for months or years, doing their damage to the victim that is irreversible.
The psychopath and the tick
There is so much similarity between the psychopath and the tick, as well as other parasites. They burrow into our flesh and almost, in some cases, become part of us, while they suck our blood, and infect us with their toxic waste. They may not even appear to be so evil. “It’s just a bug bite, get over it,” our friends and family may say. Though we may become very ill from our even short association with these creatures, the illness may not be apparent to the naked eye like, say, a broken leg would be. We may struggle with the itch, the fever, the weakness, and the general debility left behind and not even realize that we have been infected with pathogens that can ruin or end our lives.
In addition to ticks attaching to us as we walk through grass or brush, ticks may also latch on to our pets or other family members, and thus gain entrance into our homes and lives by hitching a ride on our friends and pets. The tick may not even attack the pet or family member, but instead jump off on to our skin for his blood meal, using the intermediary only for transportation to get to us.
Look out for parasites
As I told the patients in my clinic, you need to be on the look out for ticks. If you or any member of your family, or pets, go anywhere in the summer time where there is grass, you should do a complete daily check for ticks, and carefully remove any that you find. Immediately wash the area and mark the date on the calendar, so that you can be on the look out for any sign of disease from even a short association with these creatures. If the symptoms of any kind of disease show up, seek medical attention immediately.
I think that same advice is useful for people who don’t live on a desert island alone, but live in the real world in which they may encounter psychopaths. I suggest that we all do a daily check of our lives to see if anyone we are dealing with even looks or acts at all like a parasite. If we see a parasite, quickly remove that parasite from our life. Wash all traces of them off of us. Then keep our eyes open for any covert damage that they have done to our life so that we can seek proper treatment as soon as possible.
Read two articles of LoveFraud, and call me in the morning!
henry: I think last week you described P’s as parasites stuck on our ass, or something like that, anyway…. it cracked me up.
yes I did – but it was Oxys original analogy – chiggers are just as bad – no they are worse – I have had them from my ankles up to my —-
I just seem to attract parasite’s – Dear God please dont let my shame degenerate into self pity — amen
I have to copy and paste that last entry into my journal!
SoChic: I wasn’t kidding!
That’s the problem with metaphors and analogies — they can be oh-so-real!
Thankyou again Oxy!!!
I owe you big time..(I know, by helping others..)
I agree with you that I am making big progress towards recovery (we all are). Do you think, from the little I have told you about my middle son, (the one that I never see or hear from hardly at all), do you think he is a cluster B?
I am ready to at least consider it after my “little breakthrough today in that arena”.
Love and thankyou so much for sharing from the heart and helping me SOOOOOO MUCH!
love Tilly.
Hello. This is my first comment though I have been reading the posts since January 2008. Thanks to all for sharing your experiences. As uncomfortable as it makes me feel – creepy crawley things – your comparison of sociopaths and parasites seems on the mark. Especially where there’s one, others may be lurking. I used to think that such people were solitary in their pursuits but have evolved my understanding after my own experiences and two years of reading everything I can find. Thanks again for your sharing and insight.
Welcome legendsleuth…yeah, it’s a good place, isn’t it?
Tilly….”a real fair dinkum”…that’s good, right? I’ve borrowed some expressions from a virtual Aussie friend, with his permission…might use it with him, but don’t want to make a mistake….glad you’re here, Tilly!
legendsleuth: I see we started reading LF at the same time! I have learned a lot from this website also. Hope to hear from you again real soon!
Hey Jim in Indiana USA,
“fair dinkum” means “honest to God, true, real, not lying about it, I would swear on the Bible, “, add a question mark and it means, “is that what REALLY happened? I can’t believe your telling me this! Are you LYING to me?, I can’t believe that!”….and lots lots more on that track!”
“bloody oath” means ” YES!” or “I am not lying, I never would lie about this, I am telling you the truth, that is so true, I agree with you 100%” etc.
Perfect language for you everyday aussie con man, “What d’yu reckon?” lol
I Gotta luv yu Jim! ( You were my first response on LF and it meant the WORLD to me as I was in melt down). THANKYOU!!!!!!