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:
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.