Editor’s note: The following article was written by a Lovefraud reader who uses the name “Transcendence.”
I had not received so much confirmation or documentation of being in a “relationship” before. The biggest problem was that he managed to rarely see me in person and he had a habit of cancelling and sometimes even “FORGETTING” dates. My first intoxicating Romantic Narcissist occurred 4 years ago and I had never experienced a suitor so sexy, seductive, intelligent, well written with poetic prose and boyishly handsome with seeming innocence.
I remember waiting desperately for a return txt ”¦ or phone call ”¦ obsessively ”¦ this man could send me to heaven or throw me into the black abyss. The euphoria of the sexy banter ”¦ the wanting and being wanted. But nothing can compare to the depths of searing pain of being abandoned ”¦ of the broken promises”¦and the crushing of the heart.
Reeling me in
He blew up my phone with fun and provocative texts ”¦ and he could sense when I was beginning to pull away and analyze the situation and he would reel me in with a challenge or an enticing promise. When he knew I was hopelessly enamored and committed he would suddenly drop out of sight and string me along for days”¦with me at times desperate and broken hearted ”¦ begging for some small offer of contact if only to know he was “okay”.
How I yearned for this illusive man ”¦ and how I anguished over the tumultuous bewildering pattern”¦trying to keep my head above the dark deceptive waters of exploitation. What is so ironic about these crushing relationships is the jealousy of others as they witness the attention we get by these handsome, intelligent, charming men.
After 5 weeks I figured out that he was cheating and lying about it ”¦ I mean CHEATING ”¦ serial obsessive sex. I broke it off ”¦ which was so hard as I was already crazy for him. I thought he was “the one” and I was going to help him raise his kids. It was so difficult ”¦ I cried so much I missed work the next day. He was so persuasive in txts and emails but I held my ground.
Fell harder than before
I had not had sex with him but had spent a few languishing nights in his arms with him wrapped around me and I was “hooked”. After the break up I had a number of dates from online and was getting hit on quite a bit ”¦ so that helped somewhat. The break up was early November. But by the end of December ”¦ we started txting ”¦ and I thought I could just mess with him ”¦ and it took him a solid month of epic txts but he was so convincing that I fell harder than before and longed desperately to see him! All these other things seemed to fall into place magically as if to bring us back together! His New Year’s Eve txt rolled in “Lucky is the guy who gets you at Midnight”
Thus began again another electrifying, confusing, romp where after 5 months I made love with him after only being with one man in my life (my exNhusband) and being celibate nearly 10 yrs! Then he abandoned me AGAIN right after ”¦ and me putting in so much effort to try to have a relationship with him”¦he would have me wait for his call and he would stand me up ”¦ and sadly and woefully I only actually got to see him maybe once or twice a month. And in hindsight ”¦ he had probably had sex with someone before and after he saw me!
After investing so much and him playing games and hurting me and breaking promises”¦I would try to break it off with him again. I wrote, “No relationship could survive on the crumbs you offer”. He was so good at blaming his job where he travelled and taking care of his kids. (I never even MET the kids) To be honest I feel like such a fool ”¦ and I was so good to him ”¦ and caring ”¦ he asked me not to give up on him. I do know that he was truly hurting and his family treated him like crap ”¦ and he was sexually traumatized within his family. That is what was so hard ”¦ I understood where the obsessive sexual behavior came from ”¦ the revictimization of self and then the predatorial behavior all wrapped up in one man.
More narcissists
In the end he abandoned me ”¦ kept my stuff ”¦ and left me with no closure ”¦ and a huge broken heart. He was very cruel”¦and I cared very deeply for him. I went on to 2 more serious relationships with N’s that lasted about 5 to 7 months ea. The next one was a cerebral N who had slight Asperger’s ”¦ and he was also very seductive and pursued me hard. And he was so very self-centered and arrogant ”¦ and full of RAGE! He cruelly abandoned me and treated me like CRAP! Then 2 months later was my last N ”¦ who was the pinnacle of exploitation ”¦ I literally ended up under his thumb ”¦ and somehow I ended up LIVING in a hotel room with him ”¦ and eventually seduced into having sex with him and my life was kidnapped ”¦ within 5 months I thought he loved me and we actually had a good relationship! And he was cruel and deceptive ”¦ punitive ”¦ critical ”¦ threatening ”¦ and he actually used abandonment at opportune times to break me down, literally.
He left me devastated and shattered 2 years ago ”¦ broke every promise and I had allowed myself to compromise so much of my integrity that I had lost much of my identity ”¦ it only took him 5 months to almost get me to the point that 1o yrs of marriage to an abuser did!
All in the phones
Back to the phones ”¦ I was trying to find an old phone to “activate” while I waited for a new phone to arrive. My old phones hold whole relationships ”¦ all with N’s ”¦ and I had enough juice to read the txts of the first romantic N ”¦ and after working hard at recovery and grieving the losses and coming out of denial ”¦ I could literally pinpoint all the seduction ”¦ how he worked on me so smoothly ”¦ and got me to send him sexy pictures ”¦ so intoxicating ”¦ and how he got me to want him so badly. How he convinced me that he cared and that we had a future and he was faithful. I really wasn’t stupid ”¦ he was really good at deception ”¦ and I wasn’t an easy target ”¦ it’s the challenge the smart ones love. At one time my whole phone was full of his vm’s and 100’s of txts ”¦ and I had emails too! I would go over and over them in bewilderment! How could it not be real?
I did still cry a little bit ”¦ but I probably sobbed for a number of months when I was getting to the nitty gritty of all those disordered destructive relationships ”¦ that would never yield a healthy bounty.
It is hard to metabolize the lack of care they actually have for us ”¦ how shallow their emotions really are. And how they can just flip a switch and be rid of us ”¦ and we are left with gaping wounds ”¦ and they turn and walk away.
I have learned so much and come through so much grief; old and new ”¦ and life is much fresher ”¦ and I am overall more content. I was fully addicted to those familiar relational patterns ”¦ and that chemical cocktail of romance that literally floods the mind and body with endorphins, oxytocin, and dopamine ”¦ whether one has full on sex or not. I have still been attracted to a few predators ”¦ but over time I am becoming more acute at diagnosing the situation when it arises ”¦ and am so thankful the formerly powerful lure is growing weaker and weaker ”¦
Transcendence
I dont think there are more male spaths than female spaths. I would say it’s 50/50. Str8 men prolly dont talk about it as much. This blog is 99% female I would guess. And men can use their sweetness and sexuality just the same as women. Beside’s that spaths are not gay or str8, they will use anyone to their advantage.
moondancer,
I have the same question for you: was your spath a “nervous spath”? Or more like a woody allen type spath?
he was calm cool and collected most of the time, he got bored very easy and would get upset and cause an argument so he could storm off in a rage, so he could go do his thing, then he would come back all lovey dovey like i hung the moon..that would last till his next payday. he didnt show any signs of fear….
but all this could change at the drop of a hat – i never knew from one day to the next what his demeanor would be. I would say for the most part he was very confident and didnt have a problem taking advantage of me, like if i was dumb enuff to fall for it i deserved it kind of thing…if he showed any signs of fear it was fear of abandonment, fear of being alone,,,but no he was not a nervous type at all..he did no wrong according to him,,,,,
Louise:
We we got out of the cab, he actually lectured me for “treating the driver badly…” But he did note I left a good tip.
For me the New Yorker, it was total a WTF? experience. We always get into arguments with taxi drivers! In fact, one Mother’s Day, my brother, mother and I were thrown out of a taxi cab when my *mother* got into an argument with one…
“Or it brought up memories of perhaps his parent’s fighting while maybe he did curl up in a corner? Interesting. That seemed extreme”I think the fight with the taxi driver triggered memories for him.”
His father estranged him when he was 4 years old. But clearly, somebody physically abused him, perhaps a boyfriend of his mother. Maybe even sexual abuse, tbh. Such fits with his porn tastes…
While all the drama with him was going on, a doctor friend of mine made an interesting comment. He said that the x-spath rapidly felt comfortable with me. Given this, he treated me like I was part of the family: drama…
Skylar:
I such to call secondary sociopaths “failed” psychopaths, it is simply part of the continuum. Regarding anxiety, mine definitely displayed that — pacing back and forth for example…
i guess things are very different in NY, but if you got in an argument with a cab driver while I was around I would be mortified. people just dont do that here, specially make a habit of it.
Moondancer;
Evidence suggest there are more male sociopaths than female, one reason being that womb testosterone levels are thought to be a factor.
Interestingly there are significantly more female borderlines than males. Some believe that Borderline Personality Disorder is essentially the female manifestation of sociopathy.
Pure homosexuals are an different lot, and I say this as a gay male. Studies indicate a significantly higher percentage of Cluster-B personality disorders among homosexuals, both sociopaths and borderlines…
In fact, my counselor though my x-spath is a borderline. My x-spath’s best friend is a borderline. This friend is open about being Borderline and blogs about it. This friend is also HIV+ and openly blogs about that.
In fact, once I saw the friend’s blog, it was the last piece of evidence that convinced me my x-spath was HIV+ but *not* borderline.
Why? Borderlines tend to spew and be open about their issues. Sociopaths are the exact opposite….
MoonDancer,
My question was about how he behaved around other people, like waiters and store clerks and cops (strangers). I was wondering if he was passive or assertive.
BBE,
the reason I call them “failed spaths” is because sociopaths/psychopaths are supposed to have “no emotions”.
People think of spaths as being cold and emotionless, and especially FEARLESS.
Who ever heard of a nervous psychopath? lol. That wouldn’t work in a slasher movie, I don’t think.
“i guess things are very different in NY, but if you got in an argument with a cab driver while I was around I would be mortified. people just dont do that here, specially make a habit of it. ”
Moondancer, we all do. It is because the drivers invariably like to take people for a “ride”, especially women…
And its not like the drivers are passive either…