Category: Psychopath

How to Deal with a Psychopath Video

Hello, my name is David Masters and I’m the author of the Psychopath Victims Toolkit.

A little about me, I’ve been counseling and consulting since the late seventies/early eighties. Occasionally, in the course of my coaching, I would encounter a client that had to mitigate the damages in their life due to the influence of a third-party individual, a “bad person.”

how-to-deal-with-a-psychopath-videoFrom my perspective, there were no such thing as bad people, just lost souls wandering aimlessly through life with little regard for others; and so, the advice that I gave to individuals in those days was very different than I might suggest now.

What I learned, was that there are people who are devoid of particular mental, emotional and spiritual components that compromises their humanity when integrating with other persons, we call these people psychopaths, sociopaths and the recent, more political correctly referred to as being on the Antisocial Personality Disorder spectrum.

That said, there are thousands of variables and no two psychopaths are identical, but they do share many similar characteristics.

So, how can you tell if you’re dealing with a psychopath? Here are some common signs that would indicate that you might be dealing with a psychopath in your life:

Is-he-or-she-a-psychopath-6-item-checklist1. CHARISMATIC

Psychopaths are charismatic and are able to attract supporters easily.

They are wonderful speakers who are able to engage their audience and can easily engage the emotions and attention of those fortunate enough to be in their presence.

They exaggerate stories skewing the truth for their self-serving benefit, and will go as far as to lie and place themselves in someone else’s story and claiming it is their own.

2. SMART

Psychopaths are intellectual. They have a gift of having incredibly sharp wit and intelligence enabling them to masquerade as highly-educated as they bob and weave socially in live situations.

This also makes them excellent con artists able to conceive, plan and execute elaborate schemes, while staying one step ahead of the authorities.

3. NO FEELINGS

Psychopaths have no feelings. They do not grieve, are incapable of feeling guilt, shame or remorse, empowering them to easily victimize anyone. They will enthusiastically engage in anything that bolsters their position at someone else’s expense.

They do not love. They are incapable of giving or receiving love, but terribly acute at acting as though they are madly in-love, if it will help them achieve a desired result.

They are great actors/performers giving them the ability to create any perception of themselves that will achieve for them their desired result.

Even though they can appear to have emotions and use them as tools to manipulate their victims, let there be no doubt, they have no real feelings whatsoever.

4. IMPULSIVE

Psychopaths are impulsive, often acting or speaking without thinking through potential consequences of their words or actions, and are more likely to spontaneously take risks.

They are free of repercussion, since they see themselves as above the law or the constraints of the social norm. No social filters, consequences or guilt.

5. WINNERS

Psychopaths never lose. They will dominate anyone who gets in their way, will viciously defend their position, often by telling lies and spinning wild tales in an effort to discredit anyone with the inclination to disagree with them.

If you are naïve enough to challenge them, be aware that they will wield their powers of persuasion to make you look like a fool for questioning them. Which presumes that they believe themselves to be:

6. NEVER WRONG

Psychopaths are always right. They never apologize; do not feel remorse for hurting others and are incapable of feeling guilt.

If asked to apologize, a psychopath will often strike out and attack their victim, rather than admit they may have made a mistake or misstep.

Now ask yourself, is the person you’re dealing with a psychopath?

Are they charismatic, smart, have no feelings, impulsive, always the winner and never wrong?

Chances are, you’re face-to-face with a psychopath.

You’re probably saying to yourself, “I knew it. I knew there was something wrong with that person…” You are realizing that you should rely more on your intuition that may have been warning you when you first met this person that something was not quite right. If only we learn to listen more to our gut, we would live happier, safe and secure lives, free from those who seek to exploit us.

If nothing else, that is the lesson to be learned from encountering a psychopath, is to trust your instincts and to not let yourself be taken advantage of by a cunning predator.

I would not, now, be an expert in the field of psychopathy had I not had my own first-hand experience with an evil psychopath that opened my eyes to the realities of the disorder. And now I have deep regret for all the folks that I was ill-equipped to be compassionate enough to reach out to them appropriately.

In this way, I may have attracted this psychopathic presence in my own life to benefit those whom it is my calling to assist along their life’s journey.

So, we’ve established that you have found yourself to be the unfortunate victim – or mark – of a psychopath, sociopath or someone amidst the antisocial personality disorder spectrum…

What Can You Do About It?

How to Deal With a Psychopath

How-to-deal-with-a-psychopath-6-item-checklist1. NO CONTACT

The very first thing to do is to crate as much separation as you can as soon as possible between yourself and the psychopath.

You need to distance yourself physically, financially, emotionally, spiritually and in any other way possible from the psychopath and cease any and all communication with him or her, period.

Any further communication or contact after correctly identifying a psychopath will only lead to more risk, or potential loss to you and yours.

Be aware that as you distance yourself, the psychopath will try to cling to you or play on your emotions in order to further victimize you. Do not fall for their manipulation or pity ploys from this point forward. They will try to appeal to your feeling but keep in mind they have no feelings and no regard for yours, except as a method to further victimize you.

You must cut them off. No contact, means no contact. Though this may not be possible, if you work or live with the psychopath; but that will be an issue to be handled specifically and independently of the scope of this primary message.

2. GET HELP

Next, you will need a strong support system. You should seek out a professional, a counselor or therapist, with experience in dealing with psychopaths. Note that early in my practice, even though individuals sought me out for assistance, I was ill-equipped to offer them the support that they needed at the time.

How can someone understand what you are going through, if they do not understand what you are going through… because – and I am as guilty of this as anyone – “things can’t really be all that bad.” But they are, and they can be very bad, and they can get worse if you do not take the appropriate actions.

Seek out a specialist, or at least someone with experience dealing with victims of psychopaths.

3. BE QUIET

Do not talk to your friends about the psychopath. You might think this is a good time to reach out to those in your circle of friends that you can depend on for support, but chances are (if the psychopath has done his or her homework) they have already gotten to them in advance.

If your friends have not been compromised by the psychopath, there is a good chance that they will be, and be forewarned very few people can compete with the ability to manipulate the minds of the unsuspecting, like the psychopath.

Keep things quiet. Do not confront your psychopath, engage in a battle of wits, challenge or attempt an intervention with your psychopath. This will only open you up for further potential pain, suffering and potential loss.

They psychopath has the uncanny ability to turn anything that you say against you. Don’t give them the opportunity.

4. STAY STRONG

Stay the course. If the psychopath has counter-attacks you, don’t respond.

If you communicate anything to this person it should only be silence. Be steadfast and unshakeable, solid as a rock.

He or she must realize that you cannot be manipulated or be bullied into making any kind of response, no matter what they do or say.

Keep a good posture, positive outlook, smile and be confident (even if you don’t feel like it) at all times.

Any indication of weakness will be seen as an opportunity either to insert themselves or launch another attack.

5. DOCUMENTATION

how-to-deal-with-a-psychopath-sociopath-david-m-mastersDocument everything. Keep hard copies of everything you can to document any interaction or statements made by your psychopath and keep it at a secure location.

Watch what you say. Act as if every word you speak is being recorded, and may be read to a jury in the future word-for-word and spun out of context in an effort to make you look like a lunatic.

Maybe someday the people who once trusted you will see the truth, but even so, if your psychopath was a masterful one, they will still wonder about you, even after the true colors of the psychopath are made known.

So, don’t hold onto the false hope of one day being vilified of all the illicit accusations that were made against you. In most cases the effects are permanent, though may fade over time. Maybe, in the afterlife…

6. FORGIVE YOURSELF

Most of all, forgive yourself. You were not the perpetrator, here, you were the victim. And as a victim you may have found yourself in vulnerable or compromising situations, and you may feel like the fool. But you were not the fool. Anyone could be victimized by the proficient psychopath and it happens every day in all walks of life and levels of society.

You could not have seen this coming… but now that you are aware, you are less likely to become a victim again… and maybe you can help others to see the signs – or at least be aware – that there are evil people out there, the virtual wolves in sheep’s clothing, who seek to destroy the lives of others without remorse.

Thank you for joining me for this message. It is my hope that this information will help to save you and other from further potential pain, suffering or loss at the hands of the psychopath. Pass this information on to others who may be potential victims.

For more information, or to contact me, visit psychopath victims dot com.

Psychopathic Smear Campaigns

One of the dead giveaways of psychopathic behavior is that of the vicious, psychotic character assassination campaigns that are wielded against anyone who stand in their way or might pose a threat to their agenda(s).

Please keep in mind that if you have become the targeted victim of a psychopath’s smear campaign, that it is nothing personal. In fact, nothing can ever be seen as “personal” to a predatory psychopath as they are devoid of any feelings (like a normal person might have); no love, no hate, no empathy, no remorse. They only see other people as tools or possessions and may even use phrases, like:

  • psychopath-smear-campaigns-dont-respond-defend-react-negotiate-contact-use-social-mediaYou’re mine
  • I own you

And when they are done with you, they have so little regard for you that they might say:

  • I will end you
  • You will be nothing when I’m done with you

People will no longer believe you

This campaign focused on your destruction need not have any basis in actual fact, as the psychopath will create an alternative universe using a method that transfers the attributes of the psychopath in an effort to discredit the victim so much that anything they might say would not be considered as a factual representation of the truth.

The battleground may include close personal relationships, workplaces and/or media (recently there has been a great deal of growth in social media arenas).

Psychopathy is no respecter of gender. A psychopathic woman conducting a smear campaign might claim that a person perceived as a threat is abusive, twisted, perverted or on the brink of insanity.

Thinking about defending yourself?

If the victim(s) exerts the effort to spend a great deal of effort in defense of their character (i.e., testimony, closed circuit proof, eyewitness accounts, and other relative data), the psychopath will never recount their initial claim. Instead, they will put on additional pressure to even claim that he/she is in fear for his/her life and that the victim is a threat to other men, women and/children or even the future of mankind.

“Don’t even think about daring to mess with me.”

While destroying the life of the victim of such a psychopathic smear campaign, it sends a strong message to witnesses of the event, in effect warning them that they dare not find themselves on the wrong side of such a formidable foe.

Anyone could say things they don’t mean in the heat of the moment.

It is quite ordinary for a normal person to spout ill reports about someone whom they feel has wronged them while in the throes of emotional trauma.

Normal people heal and develop greater understanding from the experience.

In healthy individuals, as time passes and emotional healing takes place, they become much more tolerant of others who have chosen to follow a different path.

Not so for the psychopath. For the psychopath, it is a long-term commitment to bury their prey and sometimes it can be a lifetime obsession.

The appropriate response, when attacked by a psychopathic smear campaign, is not to respond, not to defend, not to react, and not to contact the predator ever again; period, as any response, no matter how negative, threatening or even a lawfully empowered response will only add fuel to the fire that runs the engine of the assailant. Do not ask the psychopath to stop or try to negotiate with him/her.

Without responding, document everything. In regards to the importance of documentation:

  • Documentation beats conversation
  • If it wasn’t documented, it didn’t happen

Seek legal recourse, venues and protection by law, if at all possible, holding the offender accountable for every word, threat or action as it occurs.

Report everything that happens to your local law enforcement agency. Even if the authorities roll their eyes at you for coming into their office to report and supply them with documentation, yet again, do it anyway. Even those who work in the service against criminals can be conned by the cunning psychopath. Stay the course, document and report everything.

Though you may be tempted to, resist posting information about your psychopathic encounter on social media as this is the devils’ playground. Also note that you should guard against sharing intimate details about your psychopathic encounters with other people because you never know who can be trusted (unless, of course, you know for a fact that the person in question is truly trustworthy). Psychopaths will manipulate those who have your confidence in order to probe you for information that feeds the psychopathic fire and they will be spreading lies about your credibility and/or sanity. Anything you say to them will be twisted and misconstrued to reflect upon you in the worst possible light.

Take away the impact of the psychopath’s abuse by having absolutely no response or contact whatsoever, and they eventually get bored and move onto some other more entertaining prey. The reaction of either the victim or others feeds their need to focus on the destruction of their prey.

Therein lays the rub. As social media becomes more accessible, we see psychopaths moving their smear campaigns to the Internet, which is much more difficult to control and can be a highly effective tool in the destruction of a victim’s character. Although the victim might have the wherewithal to ignore the fictitious ranting of the psychopath, other onlookers, unaware of the deception and those whom are fascinated by dirty laundry and drama, may provide the assailant the attention that they crave.

Reach out to a professional for support. People with no professional frame of reference or exhaustive experience dealing with psychopaths will not understand the true nature of the psychopath, and many professionals have been misled or swindled by psychopaths.

Resources include Domestic Violence workers, organizations, victim support groups, counselors or professionals with expertise in dealing with psychopathic abuse.

How to Report a Hater on Facebook

How-to-report-a-hater-on-facebookIf a psychopath is using facebook to attack victims:

1. Copy, paste and document all written communication
2. Send to appropiate channels victim(s), agencies, police
3. Report to facebook using online FB tools
4. Report/Block offender

Note: If you block or delete them 1st, you will not be able to document.

This from facebook:

If you are being harassed on Facebook, you can put a stop to it. Your profile is under your control, not the control of people who post to your wall. Here are a few simple steps you can take to stop people who are trying to hurt you.

Change Your Settings

Update Your Notifications Let’s start with the Account Settings. On the top right of each Facebook page there is a link called Settings. Click on that. Then click on the Notifications tab. Make sure that you are receiving an email every time someone posts to your wall, tags you in a post, tags you in a photo, tags you in your own photo, comments on your photos, comments on a photo of you, comments after you in a photo, comments on your photo albums, or comments after you in a photo album.
You also want to be notified if anyone replies to a discussion board post you made if you belong to any groups.
You also want to be notified if someone tags you in a note, comments on your notes, or comments after you in a note. Same for the links. You should also be notified if you are tagged in any videos or if anyone tags your videos. Also allow notifications of video comments about your videos or in videos in which you are featured.
Finally, you should be notified of any comments on a story on your Wall or if anyone comments after you on a Wall story.
Be sure to save your changes at the bottom of the page.
These are all areas where people can leave nasty comments or use as a way to harass other users. If the comment is made on your Wall, photos, videos, etc., you can simply delete and block the user (more on that in a minute.) If the post is made to someone else’s Wall, photos, videos, etc, you can report it. After each comment there is a link that says Report. Click it.

Change Your Privacy Settings
Go to the top right on the Facebook page and this time hover over Settings. A drop down menu appears. Go down to Privacy Settings and click on it.
We’ll start with your profile. Click on Profile Information. On this page, you will want to change all of your settings to Only Friends. Here, you can also change whether your friends can post to your Wall. If comments get particularly bad, you can uncheck this feature and no one else can post anything to your wall, even if they are on your Friends List.
Near the top on the left, click on Back to Privacy.
Click on Contact Information. There are two ways you can control this information. You can change all of these settings to Only Friends, with the exception of the Add me as a friend which you can change to Friends of Friends. Remember, you don’t have to add people as friends. You can ignore them. If you want even more privacy, you can choose the customize option and choose to make this information visible only to you.
The second way to keep this information private is to not put any of it on your profile in the first place. To edit this information, click on Profile in the upper left, then click on the Info tab. Here you can edit or remove any contact information you may have entered. You can also change who is allowed to see this information.
Back in the Privacy Settings, click on Search. Change the Facebook Search Results to Only Friends and uncheck the Public Search Results.
Go back to Privacy. Click on Block List. This is extremely useful if there are a few people who are causing you the most trouble. Simply enter their user name (their name as it appears on Facebook) and click Block. Or enter their email address and click Block. The people you put on this list will no longer be allowed to interact with you. Double check and go to your Friends List and remove these people as your friends. You have every right to do so.

Removing Content from Your Wall
If you have comments on your wall, you can delete them. On your Wall, move your mouse to the right side of the offending comment and click on Remove.

Report the Harassment
You will need to do this step before blocking a user and it will only work for people who are not on your Friends List. Go to the profile of the person who has been harassing you. Scroll all the way to the bottom of the page and in the left hand corner you will see the link Report/Block this Person. Click on it and fill out the form that appears. You can block this person at the same time. The report is kept confidential.

If the Harassment Continues
If you have changed all of your settings and blocked the people responsible, you can continue to be harassed or bashed on Facebook. If a friend notifies you that there is someone who is continuing to bash you or try to get others to harass you, ask your friend to report these people as outlined in the Report the Harassment section.

Psychopaths Using the Internet to Attack Victims

Unfortunately, there are many options available to the psychopath who is focused on the assassination of your character via the Internet. This is commonly referred to as cyberbullying (or a variety of other cyber-related criminal activity), internet fraud, social media harassment, online exploitation or toxic computer stalking by these electronic predators.

New-e-tools-for-predators-psychopaths-and-pedaphiles-Cybercrime-excellerates-exponentiallyBefore the creation of the World Wide Web, it was much more of a challenge to produce propaganda against innocent victims, now it is as easy as filling out a form online, and pressing a submit button… and the results can be devastating to their victims.

Certainly, most people view information on the Internet with a cautious sense of curiosity. As we all know, you can’t believe everything you find in Google. Right? But, the psychopath armed with the intent to do irreparable damage to your reputation can cause so much of a clatter amongst the Internet-savvy to effectively trash you, or even rally an online mob against you.

We’ve seen it all, everything from posting a bunch of lies, half-truths, libel and slanderous reports in a way to make it look, “official,” via personal web sites, blogs, comment postings, and third-party web sites that may appear to be credible, to fraudulently impersonating victims on social media sites, like facebook and twitter and accosting your social media contacts with slanderous reports and/or threats.

Let’s face it, you can create anything you want on the Internet. It is an incredible resource when this power is used for good, but massively more powerful when used as a weapon against an individual; mostly due to the fact that the average web-surfing American loves drama. If they think they can use Google to uncover hidden dirty laundry on you, they will have feel like they’ve hit the mother-lode. And that – no matter how you try to defend yourself – can tarnish your image or reputation forever, because there will always be that seed of doubt amongst the conspiracy theorists.

For instance, let’s simulate a psychopath’s attack on you. In this scenario, let’s say that you maybe testified for the State against a psychopath and that your testimony led to his conviction and imprisonment. This causes the psychopath to focus all his energies on you as the reason that he is now behind bars – not that he committed crimes that landed him there – but you become his fixated target.

He (or she) is hell-bent to take you down, once and for all. You will pay the price for his/her transgressions.

In an attempt to destroy your credibility a psychopath may project his (or her) character attributes onto you in an effort to make him/her out to be the real victim, and possibly that the offender was framed by you, who exchanged your testimony for favors from the Court (or some other conspiracy).

The psychopath will take any known facts about you and turn them into wild stories that would excited the senses of any conspiracy theorist. For example,

 Fact  Psychopath   Spin
 You graduated from   Harvard  you never attended and   your credentials are fake
 You married at an   early age  unwed pregnancy and   illicit drug use forced you to marry
 You bought a new car  because the old car   had DNA evidence of your murder victim
 You own your home  you swindled some   retiree out of their home
 You vacationed in   Vegas  you were laundering   money for the mob
 You were divorced  your spouse left you   for infidelity
 Your children are   adults  they are finally free   from your (possibly sexual) abuse
 Your dog died  you killed your dog   only after torturing it
 Your friends love you  only because they   don’t’ know the truth about you

 

And so it goes, ad infinitum… Psychopaths are supremely gifted in spinning fantastic stories about their victims in an effort to destroy any sense of credibility that they may have.

Imagine applying for a job, and potential employers find these libelous reports on the Internet. What about getting phone calls from your friends, who tell you that they have received facebook messages, or even phone calls, from (supposed) public agencies investigating you for illicit or illegal activities?

Using the old-fashioned phone – or more correctly the evolutionary cell phone – is still a primary tool for the obsessive psychopath, especially due to new technologies including (but not limited to) “spoofing” caller ID information, so that caller ID enabled phones will see the phone number of the local police department, or FBI office on their call display; this is only one of the many new technological advancements that find themselves in the psychopath’s tool belt.

Who wins?

What can you do?

Avoid any contact with any potential psychopath via early detection. If it’s too late for that, stop any contact with your psychopath immediately and permanently. If you’ve already been targeted by a psychopath, ignore them as much as you can, as any response from you – in your defense or not – will chalk up a perceived “point” for the psycho. This will continue to fuel the fire.

Sometimes, if you are really good at ignoring the psychopath, they take it to the next level by attacking you through your friends, their friends, your associates and/or the media.

Hopefully, you can encourage them to document everything and not to fuel the fire by responding to the psychopath’s assaults in any way, but if they do, it will encourage the psychopath to push that target market even harder.

If you think that prosecution and imprisonment of a psychopath for committing cybercrimes will protect you; think again. We’ve seen these same crimes continue after the offender has been incarcerated via evil minions orchestrated and directed by the offender from behind bars.

 

Forever Bea: I married a psychopath in search of my soul mate

One woman’s courage to share her story is revealed in Shirli Kieffer’s Forever Bea delineating the details of Bea Davison’s search for her soul mate. Her story that begins as a god-fearing, hippie commune flower-child and follows her life, loves and struggles that come with psychopaths are drawn to you like a moth to the flame.

Forever-Bea-I-married-a-psychopath-in-search-of-my-soulmate

Davison’s attempt to live as a normal member of society after leaving the commune is fraught with unforeseen challenges.

Walking a mile in Bea’s shoes won’t change your life, but if you’ve been involved in a romantic relationship with a sociopath, you will find it comforting that you are neither alone, nor crazy.

And, hopefully, like Ms. Davison, you will never give up, remain optimistic and believe in love, while being cautious about the people that you allow to have access to your most intimate hopes, wants, dreams and desires.

You are not alone.

Forever Bea: I married a psychopath in search of my soul mate

is available in paperback and Kindle formats.

 

Psychopathic Character Assassination

You may be one of the unfortunate ones who were unfortunate to cross roads with a psychopath. If you’re fortunate, you were only temporarily targeted by the psychopath, and were used (possibly abused or picked-clean) then discarded like yesterday’s trash. Psychopaths excel at blending-in with society and they permeate all walks of life. You may encounter them at work, in religious organizations or you may find yourself in an intimate relationship with one.

psychopathic-character-assassinationSome people are lifetime targets of Psychopathic Character Assassination (Psyca) a full-on unbridled attempt by the “Path” (used interchangeably to represent either a psychopath or sociopath) to totally destroy any credibility that the unsuspecting victim may have had.

What makes this victim so special over the other victims, that they are targeted to be the recipients of a possibly life-long dedication to end all normal social interaction or positive human connection with other inhabitants of our planet?

Simply stated, in most cases, victims of Psyca normally self-select by knowing too much about the Path.

Paths routinely maintain at least two separate personas. One, a positive, gregarious, revered personality that is embraced by unsuspecting society, the other is their dark Path self: their evil twin. They may have many other personalities that they dial-in at any particular moment to manipulate their current audience (not to be confused with multi-personality disorder because they change personas at will with the intent to defraud).

It is imperative that the Path keep their dark sides hidden from the general populace. Think about it; if anyone knew who they really were, their lives would crumble. To the Path, protecting the secrecy of their true innate evil is as important to them as anything that provides life or sense of purpose to any other normal human being.

Paths usually launch their Psyca-attacks following a very calculated formula. Even though there is no known, “playbook,” that has been published for the Paths to follow, they all intuitively use the same system to ruin the lives of those who they feel may be a threat to the sacred secrecy of his or her true self. Certainly, making a potential witness appear to be a crazy, mentally disturbed, narcissistic sociopath, psychopath or pathological liar is the logical solution.

LAYING THE GROUNDWORK

Years of research and experience has concluded that usually within the first moments of engaging with a victim who might have access to too much personal information on the Path, they begin to sow the seeds of doubt and lack of trustworthiness behind the victim’s back.

The Path draws in the friends, family co-workers and acquaintances of the victims with his or her personal charm in an effort to build a (false) trust relationship with the fringe audience. This is accomplished with little effort as the Path has innate skills that easily manipulate the perceptions of others endearing them to him or her as they wield their persuasiveness and charm.

The initial impact, though appearing quite harmless and innocuous is commonly cloaked in the appearance of sincere concern for the victim’s well-being and might sound something, like, “I don’t know if you’ve ever noticed, but have you ever thought that (insert victim’s name) may not be what he (or she) appears to be?” No accusations, no data, reports or inclinations of anything concrete, just tilling the soil and fertilizing it with a little doubt.

All the while, they are increasing their own credibility with someone who may be a family member, friend, co-worker or acquaintance of the intended victim; unaware that they are being groomed as the Path’s minion who will be turned against the victim when the time is right.

SOWING FALSE “FACTS”

Grooming from this point forward will take a secretive slant and will likely be presupposed with something, like, “Don’t tell (insert name), but…” as they actually sow seeds of doubt.

As the relationship between the Path and his minion(s) grows deeper, more and more seeds will be sown in an effort to cast doubt, while the victim is none the wiser.

I’ve always thought it peculiar, that in most cases, these once close associates of the victim rarely, if ever, courteously approach them with the sensitive information with a sincere, “Hey, I was just wondering about (insert reports of lack of sanity, trustworthiness, a secret double-life, illicit drug-use, illegal activities, pathological symptoms, etc…)…” that would definitely be an early indicator that something was up.

In most, if not all, circumstances the victim continues to navigate their life’s journey unaware that the world they once enjoyed is being eroded or destroyed behind their back.

It is common for the Path to project their own psychological attributes onto you. For instance, if they are a closet illicit drug user, then this will be represented as being a problem for you. If he or she is manipulative or controlling, this would be presented as something that you struggle with unbeknownst to others. If they tend to make up elaborate stories, it will be the victim who secretly lives a fantasy-life where nothing is as it seems… on and on and on…

Why? Because no one knows these attributes better than the Path. They are the undeniable expert in these pathologies and they know how critical it is for someone who has them to keep them a secret in an effort to appear to be normal.

In no way am I suggesting that the Path might limit their Psyca-attacks to their own attributes. They are extremely acute at the skill of taking a known truth and spinning it into a ludicrous conclusion that will cast a dark shadow on anyone at any time.

ENTER THE “SPIN”

Paths have the ability to spin any factual data into an amazing story that will breed conspiracy or contempt for any individual at will.

For instance, let’s say that you had a hard day at work all day, due to struggling with an intense ongoing headache. Everyone at work could tell that you were not “on your game” as usual. If you intimated to the Path that you had a headache; that would give them the data that they needed to spin a tale.

The tale may take many shapes and forms, but will be consistent with some of the previous seeds that had been sown against you. For instance, if the Path’s intention was to have you appear to his or her minions that you were a closet illicit drug user, he or she might intimate, “Wow, did you notice that (insert your name) was out of it yesterday? It’s normal to go through withdrawals when you don’t get your fix before you get to work… It’s so sad…”

No matter what you say or do, you cannot prevent the Path from spinning it into a negative story about you that will erode your sense of normalcy.

THE BEGINNING OF THE END

When the Path has a clue that you are coming to the end of your usefulness in the accomplishment of their goals, he or she ramps up the defamation, usually making it appear that it is you who is beginning to attack them. At this point the Path will appeal to their minions’ sensibilities as they present themselves as the sacrifice, martyr or victim of your psychotic manipulations.

It will become apparent to you when your relationship with the Path is coming to an end, that there has been a definite polarity has taken place. People who were once your friends will drift away… and you will notice a gravitation toward the Path.

Having no internal filter, they will stop at nothing in an effort to humiliate you. They will spout vile accusations, even proclaim you’re mentally ill, if it will support their proclamation that you cannot be trusted or are inherently evil.

Trying to defend yourself is almost pointless. If the Path is quite proficient – as most of them are very accomplished – anything that you say in your defense will appear to be a part of your psychosis and will strengthen all of the groundwork that the Path has laid in preparation of this moment.

Even if the Path’s relationship with the minions begins to dissolve (as it almost always does when the Path moves on in search of new victims and minions), the seeds will always leave a mark in their minds… and as heartbreaking as it may be, in most cases, regardless of the ultimate outcome of the Path’s lifestyle, there may be no hope for recovering the life that you once knew.

Jobs and careers may be lost, friends will turn their backs on you, family members will distance themselves, the people that you once trusted with your most intimate thoughts and feelings will always wonder who you “really were” all the time they knew you.

THE RELENTLESS COMMITMENT TO YOUR DESTRUCTION

There is no way to anticipate how long the attacks will take place. In some cases, if the Path is the least bit concerned that you might at some point discredit them or tarnish their appearance or reputation… the attacks will continue. If the Path believes that at any point you could be a threat to their charade, the spinning will not cease. This perceived threat may continue until either of you cease to be.

Many Paths have come right out and made bold, public declarations that they, “will not rest until you are,” locked up, put away, homeless, or dead.

MEDIA MANIPULATION

Paths may even go as far as to manipulate the media. In many cases a Path may launch a character assassination media campaign in an effort to make certain that you will have little or no credibility whatsoever. Media campaigns may include radio shows, newspapers, magazines and social media pays quite effectively into their slanderous toolbox.

SOCIAL MEDIA

If you are active in social media, it is not very hard to tap into your network, and start spinning your friends, followers or associates against you as they spin everything you say or do against you.

 

Psychopath 7 Item Checklist

It is not uncommon to encounter a sociopath or psychopath at some point in one’s life. In the beginning, it may be one of the greatest experiences in your life, but as time goes on, it will likely be the worst experience in your life. They come in both genders, though most are male. They have been referred to as emotional vampires, sucking the life (emotional and financial resources) out of those that they have influence over.

Is-he-or-she-a-psychopath-7-item-checklistSociopath is the new, more politically correct label for a psychopath, so henceforth when I refer to a “sociopath” know that it is interchangeable with psychopath (psychopath is the old-school reference that I believe is a more accurate label of the condition).

The only defense one has against a sociopath is early detection. So, here’s a checklist of seven items that may give you the head’s up that this “someone” in your life, may not be all that he (or she) appears to be. So, here are seven signs to help you figure out if you might be dealing with a sociopath (hopefully before you’ve suffered damages):

  1. Sociopaths are charismatic and are able to attract supporters easily. They are wonderful speakers who are able to engage their audience who can easily engage the emotions and attention of those fortunate enough to be in their presence. They exaggerate stories skewing the truth for their self-serving benefit, and will go as far as to lie and place themselves in someone else’s story and claiming it is their own.
  2. Sociopaths are intellectual. They have a gift of having incredibly sharp wit and intelligence enabling them to masquerade as highly-educated, bob and weave in live situations. This also makes them excellent con artists able to conceive, plan and execute elaborate schemes, while (mostly) staying one step ahead of the authorities.
  3. Sociopaths are devoid of feelings. They do not grieve, are in capable of feeling guilt, shame or remorse, empowering them to easily victimize anyone. They will enthusiastically engage in anything that bolsters their position at someone else’s expense. They do not love. They are incapable of giving or receiving love, but terribly acute at acting as though they are in the throes of love, if it will help them achieve a desired result. They are great actors/performers with no real feelings whatsoever.
  4. Sociopaths are impulsive, often acting or speaking without thinking through potential consequences of their words or actions, and are more likely to take risks, being free of repercussion, since they see themselves as above the law or the constraints of the social norm.
  5. Sociopaths never lose. They will dominate anyone who gets in their way, will vehemently defend their position, often by telling lies and spinning wild tales in an effort to discredit naysayers.
  6. Sociopaths are never wrong. They never apologize; do not feel remorse for hurting others and are incapable of feeling guilt. If asked to apologize, will often strike out and attack their victim, rather than admit they may have made a mistake or misstep.
  7. Sociopaths believe their own press. Once they have said something, it becomes gospel in their mind; so much so, that they can often believe their own bold-faced lies, even to the point of being able to pass a lie detector test. They keep a long list of secrets, and are not forthcoming about intimate details of their past, unless they are fictitious.

So, what do you do if you discover you’re in the presence of a sociopath?

Simply put as much distance between yourself and them as soon and as safely as possible. Curtail any continued communication with them immediately if not sooner. Be aware that if they have not bled you dry, or achieved their goal in manipulating you; they will do anything in their power to repair their relationship with you, so that they can complete their exploitation of you.

Don’t let them do it. Surround yourself with friends who will help shelter you from further exposure.

Thanks to Damon Marturion for this post.

What is a Psychopath?

Predatory psychopaths cannоt be understood in terms оf antisocial rearing оr development. They аre effortlessly morally depraved people whо represent thе “monsters” in our society. They arе unstoppable anԁ untreatable predators whose violence іѕ planned, purposeful аnd emotionless. The violence continues until it reaches a plateau аt age 50 or ѕo, then tapers off.

 

There arе four (4) basic subtypes of psychopaths. The oldest distinction was produced bу Cleckley back in 1941 bеtween primary anԁ secondary.

Their emotionlessness reflects а detached, fearless, anԁ maybe dissociated state, revealing а low-state autonomic nervous system аnԁ lack of anxiety. It’s difficult to say what motivates them – manage аnd dominance possibly – given that thеir life history will continually show nо lengthy-standing bonds wіth others nor significantly rhyme to theіr reason (оthеr than plotting for violence or abuse).

They tend tо operate wіth а grandiose demeanor, a sense оf entitlement, an insatiable appetite, аnd а tendency toward sadism. Fearlessness iѕ probably thе prototypical (core) characteristic (thе low-fear hypothesis). It’s helpful tо think of them as high-speed cars wіth ineffective brakes.

Certain organic (brain) disorders аnԁ hormonal imbalances mimic thе state оf mind of а psychopath.

PRIMARY PSYCHOPATHS do not respond tо punishment, apprehension, stress, оr disapproval. They appear tо bе able to inhibit theіr antisocial impulses mоѕt of the time, nоt bеcauѕe оf conscience, but because it suits their purpose аt thе time. Words do not appear to hаve thе ѕаmе meaning for thеm aѕ thеу ԁo fоr us. In reality, it’s unclear if thеy even grasp the meaning оf thеіr own words, a condition thаt Cleckley referred to as “semantic aphasia.” They don’t follow basic societal rules, аnԁ it appears аs if thеy аre incapable of experiencing anу genuine emotion.

SECONDARY PSYCHOPATHS аrе the risk-takers, that are morе likely tо be tension-reactive, worriers, anԁ guilt-prone. They expose themѕelvеѕ to morе tension thаn thе typical person, on the other hand, thеy arе аs vulnerable to tension as the average individual. (This suggests that they аrе not “completely psychopathic.” This could possibly bе due to different genetic variations.)

They аrе daring, adventurous, unconventional individuals who started playing by their оwn rules early іn life. They arе strongly driven by а desire tо escape or keep away from discomfort, yet аrе unable to resist temptation. As thеir stress increases toward sоme forbidden object, ѕо dоes thеir attraction to it. They live their lives bу thе lure оf temptation. Both primary anԁ secondary psychopaths can bе subdivided іnto:

DISTEMPERED PSYCHOPATHS are the kind that seems tо fly іntо а rage or frenzy extra quickly аnԁ morе generally than оthеr subtypes. Their frenzy will resemble аn epileptic fit. They аre also usually men wіth incredibly robust sex drives, capable оf astonishing feats оf sexual energy, and seemingly obsessed bу sexual urges ԁuring a major component оf their waking lives. Powerful cravings as well appear tо characterize them, aѕ іn drug addiction, kleptomania, pedophilia, аny illicit оr illegal indulgence. They which include the endorphin “high” or “rush” off of excitement аnd risk-taking. The serial-rapist-murderer known аs the Boston Strangler wаѕ such a psychopath.

CHARISMATIC PSYCHOPATHS are charming, appealing liars. They arе consistently gifted at sоmе talent оr an additional, and thеy use it to theіr advantage іn manipulating other people. They аre normally quick-talkers, anԁ possess a nearly demonic capacity to persuade others out оf everything thеу оwn, even their lives. Leaders of religious sects оr cults, for example, might possibly bе psychopaths if thеу lead their followers to thеіr deaths. This subtype generally comes tо believe іn their own fictions. They are irresistible.

Sociopaths have always existed іn varying form anԁ to a variety of degrees. They hаve been identified by various titles. They havе beеn studied using a variety of methods, and thrоugh the years theіr ailment hаѕ been blamed оn a lot of causes. But 1 thing never ever varies: all sociopaths share three frequent attributes. They are аll vеrу egocentric people wіth no empathy for others, anԁ they аrе incapable of feeling remorse оr guilt. [The Sociopath Rebecca Horton (April 1999)]

Psychopaths are consistently superficially charming and normally make a striking impression as possessing of thе noblest of human qualities. They make friends rapidly, аnd are extremely manipulative, utilizing their capacity wіth words tо talk their way out оf any given otherwise sticky situation. Many psychopaths enjoy to bе admired аnԁ bask in the adulation of other people.

While thе psychopath has likes anԁ dislikes аnԁ fondness fоr thе pleasures thаt human business enterprise can bring, analysis shows thаt hе іѕ completely egocentric, valuing other people оnlу for thеir enhancement of hіѕ own pleasure оr status. While he gives no authentic enthusiasm, hе іѕ very capable оf inspiring enthusiasm оf quite often fanatical proportions іn others.

Possessing little or no love, there iѕ also а lack оf empathy. The psychopath іs unable to feel sorry fоr others іn unfortunate cases оr imagine what it must be like to walk in another person’s shoes, whether or not or not thеy hаve bеen harmed bу him or her.

How Psychopaths View The World

Psychopaths view the world in a very different way than the rest of us. They are attracted to possessions and energy, but they thrill at the idea of manipulating others and draining them of whatever they may have. To them it’s like a game, like stealing candy from a baby, only it’s not a baby, it could be you or someone you know that they launch their predatory attack on. They will stop at nothing. They will romance, con, plagiarize, swindle, embezzle or extort anything their mark might have they think they are more deserving of. They would rather rip you off, even take the very coat off your back, shoes off of your feet or meat off of your bones than work an honest hour in exchange for an hourly wage.

What if you’re one of the many victims of psychopaths? What then? Once they’ve drained you of everything you worked hard for and held precious as the fruits of your labors (including anything you may have had set aside for retirement) they simply target another victim whom they will exploit and suck the life and finances from, as they leave them penniless and left for dead. And the cycle continues as their insatiable thirst for the lifeblood of victims for them is a bottomless pit full of prey waiting impatiently for their chance to be slain by the psychopathic beast. People are nothing more than a means to an end, to satisfy their unquenchable thirst for what they believe is rightly theirs.

The victims will be berated and demeaned so that if anyone were inclined to even think about attending their funeral, they would probably not consider it following the psychopathic encounter that left the victim demoralized and demonized.

Sociopaths have been categorized by research to have neurological abnormalities in the frontal lobe of thе brain and fear conditioning can cause an onset of abnormal chemical reactions in this area or the brain. Other causes have been attributed to abnormal growth (maybe genetic), brain illness, or injury as these can be measured and tracked by positron emission tomography (PET) which visually shows the metabolic activity of neurons inside the brain (Sabbatini, 1998).

Concerning brain function, the amygdalae (two small regions near the base of the brain) have long bееn recognized to have an effect on aggression, sexuality and recklessness. Recently, the amygdala has also bееn shown to affect how people interpret the emotions of other people. Even the smallest defect in the amygdalae may explain a great deal of the characteristics of psychopaths, such as difficulty realating to them emotionally. This may explain why they cannot “see” emotions when they are clearly communicated by other people. People considered to have fully functional healthy brains can easily see the emotional content amidst the communication process, while the psychopath and sociopath may be clueless to any emotional communication.

The psychopath is а master manipulator who knows exactly what makes you tick anԁ knows hоw to exploit and manipulate your feelings.

Actors with prolific modeling skills enable psychopaths to persuade others (especially potential victims) that they are completely normal, with the ability to have a wide range of emotions and can communicate emotionally, though only by rote with very little or no human emotion which one might expect from a healthy human being. The psychopath uses these skills to make people falsely believe that he/she has empathy for his respective victims. Detailed storytelling is one of their primary skills which they use to convince their audience they have been hurt or experienced great injustice, loss, or grief; when the truth is, they make their way through life in an emotional vacuum. They are incapable of actually feeling compassion for others even though they have lied and coerced you into thinking they do possess these standard emotional components.

They have a keen sense and/or radar that can easily find someone who is a nice, caring person, who can help to advance their sociological station, or may have resources that they can easily obtain by gaining one’s trust, only to set them up for their unprecedented manipulation and/or thievery. Taking advantage of vulnerable victims is primarily why they might be labeled by victims, law enforcement as well as the therapeutic community as, “evil” while they are left to try to help put together the pieces of broken victims seeking to make sense of their psychopathic encounter.

Psychopaths are psychopathic liars. According to Hare, Lying, deception and manipulation are the natural talents of psychopaths. If they are caught in a lie and/or challenged they create other fictitious stories or change the details, so that they can make it look as though they are not lying. In many cases, their stories are spun with such detail, that even if you know better, you’d think they were telling the truth. The details may be so detailed, broad, varied, lengthy and skillfully interwoven that anyone would be overwhelmed by trying to unravel all the details, which are inconsistent to say the least. Understandably, any normal person who attempts to decipher the confusion details could easily suffer from exhaustion from trying to decipher and make sense of all of it. They will commonly lie for no apparent reason, as if they couldn’t help themselves from lying, if they could.

The goal of the psychopath’s extravagant storytelling will confound investigators and other audiences and cause them to question the victim as a potential culprit, conspirator or evildoer, so as to deflect to focus from themselves as they project a questionable character upon the victim. They masterfully wield their lies in an effort to discredit their accusers and manipulate anyone who might question their integrity.

In a court of law, when confronted with the facts, like finding their footprint at the scene of the crime, they are likely to respond, saying “That’s not my footprint,” and even though anyone listening to his denial knows he was there and did it, might begin to question whether he if he really was there.

The modus operandi of the psychopath is to deny any factual statements or evidence completely. So compelling is their denial, that even the victim’s inner strength and energy resources get depleted, possibly even to the point of having a nervous breakdown, which plays into the psychopath’s hand quite effectively, as they can now claim the victim is not mentally stable and suffers from delusions.

The psychopath is distracted by his or her reflection in the mirror and places a high degree of importance on his/her appearance as well as a self-centered sense of grandiosity. If anything, their narcissism may be their one weakness, which might be able to be exploited in an effort to allow them enough rope to make a mistake or allow sensitive evidence to be uncovered. They tell so many lies, that it’s hard – even for them – to keep track of it all.

If the psychopath is caught in a lie, they will use their skill of detailed recollection to weave a story based on enough fact they can tell a story so convincing even you would believe it. But details that they do not think may be beneficial for them to use in the future are completely wiped clean from their memory banks.

Predatory psychopaths can come across as very arrogant, but when in the process of grooming a potential victim, they know just what to say and how to present their stories to make you feel empathetic towards them as you assume they are a kind person, who may have suffered an injustice, so you will feel sorry for them and you let your guard down. While they may be able to represent themselves as being kind-hearted, they are not.
“They are very talented at appearing a lot significantly more humble than the average individual, nonetheless are hardly so.” – (Guggenbuhl-Craig)

They are likely to play the part of the defender of the underdog, or to be a victim of some unavoidable scheme or traumatic loss to draw you into their manipulative web of deceit. If the psychopath has a family or has weaseled his/her way into a family, the family are not considered as fellow people, more so these individuals are catalogued by the psychopath and sorted by their value as possessions to be used for their means. This also applies to other relationships outside the family, where to them; people are only valued by their ability to use them for whatever psychopathic scheme(s) they have in mind. Once a person is spent, they are discarded as they no longer possess any further value.

It used to be considered that psychopaths were unable to maintain a long term relationship with a pet, but it is coming to light that they are able to tolerate or even care for an animal IF said animal can offer some value to the psychopath. Mostly pets can be used to convince others that the psychopath is a kind person because he acts as if he cares for his animal. In rare instances, a psychopath can use the animal as something to keep them occupied during periodic downtime. Nonetheless, their pets are just like everyone else: Tools.

No matter how much you feel that your psychopath has endearing qualities or is kind and nice to you, know this is just an act he/she is putting on to set you up for their current scheme. You are simply being conned, just like everyone else.

One of the more apparent signs of psychopathy is concerned with how they easily tell stories recounting their bad or deviant behavior in their past, as if it were no big deal. Regardless of “how unsavory…his apparent comfort with his deviant behavior, the ease with which he discuss(es) breaking each and every rule, (is) consistent with ASP (psychopathy).” – (Dr. Black.)

Psychopaths are greedy and power hungry, seeking to destroy or devour everything in site as they drain the financial resources or life forces from their victims leaving very little behind when they are done with them.

Don’t be fooled by the psychopath who claims to be the savior of the downtrodden or victims of abuse. The truth is, these kinds of people with few resources or are otherwise vulnerable can easily be recruited to assist them in the carrying out of their perverse plans, and may even are being set up to take the fall as a perpetrator of a crime in proxy.

It is commonly accepted that psychopaths are born with the particular brain condition and chemistry which dictates psychopathic behavior, though other schools of thought consider that a series of challenging life circumstances may cause their otherwise normal brain condition to deteriorate as well as its chemistry to change, resulting in a later in life onset of psychopathy.

Psychopaths are also referred to as energy vampires, as they suck the energy out of anything they come in contact with, such as people, possessions or financial resources. And if it looks like someone else might be able to acquire someone or something they believe to be rightfully theirs, they would rather destroy it than let someone else have it.

Common among psychopaths is their having been raised in their youth in less than desirable circumstances. According to Dr. Donald Black, a majority of clinically diagnosed psychopaths were, “overwhelmingly white, blue collar, lower middle class, and married, and most had not graduated from high school.”

In spite of Dr. Black’s research, psychopaths can be found to populate any stage or class in society and even though they are predominantly male, female psychopaths also adorn the landscape of all social class, though admittedly they are few in numbers than their male counterparts.

Three professors, David, Derald, and Stanley Sue, in the Sixth Edition of Abnormal Behavior (circa 2000) cite statistics offered by the American Psychiatric Association that three percent of men suffer from psychopathy compared to one percent of women who are psychopaths (Personality Disorders and Impulse Control Disorders, 238). In regard to their lack of feelings, “antisocials (psychopaths) appear to lack а conscience, feeling small or no empathy for the people whose lives they touch…the antisocial easily resists all regulation, unable to see beyond his self-interest or to adopt standards of appropriate versus wrong.”

Psychopaths maintain a high degree of self entitlement and feel that everyone is indebted to them, and they are likely to take it upon themselves to make sure that everyone loses whatever they have to appease their self-endowed sense of superiority.

All psychopaths are not low class losers and/or social outcasts, many of them are highly intelligent, stealthy, and successful. Upper tier psychopaths may have attained influential and powerful positions in corporations, government and other organizations. Many of them are attractive and use everything they’ve got to carry out their predatory schemes.