Anyone Elses' Ptsd Due To A Sociopath?

[lisamarie]

Not commenting on the other posts that have occurred within this thread, but yes, the abuse I suffered from my psycho ex was definitely at the hands of a person with antisocial personality disorder.

Someone had told me that he was antisocial months into the relationship and I laughed. I considered the person an unreliable source.

Turns out they were right.....lack of empathy, disregard for the rights of others, substance abuse, unable to follow social norms, frequently incarcerated due to breaking the law....he's classic antisocial.

And I am qualified to make this diagnosis because I am a professional in the field of social work and know DSM diagnostic criteria. :laugh:

 

[frozen]

It's too late to avoid the traps.

I left him and lost everything very early on, I didn't know he was a sociopath until after I had left him and been apart for some 10 years already, it's why I said I wish I had never found out, it drives you crazy trying to comprehend their behavior, what they are, and what they'll do.

I have cut myself off from him in every way possible, I have no choice about the contact that is left as we share my two youngest children, thus my questioning if it is better to have my daughter stay with him because she is the only one out of four, who actually does things to get him on my butt. In turn, it causes her and I both more damage, although she is not able to see, as of yet, what her own actions and choices are doing to her, she does however, see what it does to me.

If he was simply an abusive person, this would not be too hard to battle as you can usually get a feel for what your abuser will pull, or try to pull. Dealing with a sociopath leaves you crazy because you can never predict their acts, they leave you absolutely dumbfounded on top of everything else. They do things that would never even cross our minds, so it becomes one shock after another and on it goes.

I can't heal while I'm still being shot. There is no true "post" in my CPTSD because the trauma is still actively happening.

Every one of us has been wounded by him, there's no getting around it. I will not take ownership of the damage that he has caused to her (my daughter) and is still causing her. I have left many battles alone to protect them.
I have taken many a bullet for them, and in so doing, suferred wounds that have left me crippled.
I don't know why she has chosen to hold the gun now as well, I don't know what she is needing by doing this, maybe she is hoping I will stand up and start firing back? I don't know. I DO know that it will cause her way more damage later though and this is what I so desperately want to protect them from.


I cry for them almost daily as I know they will suffer far greater than I because this is their dad, it's their lifetime, not just a small fraction of their life that they can move on from.

Trying to get to a point of knowing which of the two evils will harm her the least is impossible. :(
In the meantime it is slowly taking my life.

 

[Madmacks]

I am dealing with this situation right now. I could't be any more immersed legally in this issue. I am in the process of having a guardian ad litem appointed on behalf of my children. The Court will be asked to determine if my ex-wife is a psychopath by looking at the patterns of behavior that eerily match the behaviors documented by experts that identify psychopathy.

There are things that can be done. Just realize that there is a conspiracy of silence when it comes to psychopathy. Judges, Lawyers and even your average expert in psychology does not wish to acknowledge that psychopathy exists. The subject is a pandoras box that they do not wish to open. Their advice usually covers their own asses and does not help you in the long run.

Frozen, I can help you.

 

[frozen]

I am giving my children up. I am too damaged to care for them decently and he has all the money of course because he weasled through the system..

It's too much to talk about for me right now, I am sorry. I probably won't be back.

 

[Loner]

frozen, keep your head up. I know that sounds trite and cliche, but you are strong. This must be so hard, but it sounds like maybe youre making the right choice. Your kids will eventually see him for who he is, it sucks you can't protect them, but the world isnt a perfect place. They will survive I am sure, and eventually they will probably understand where you were coming from in all this. Just keep on keeping on and tend to your own healing. Taking a step back from your abuser and cutting him out of your life completely will go a long way to reducing the constant anxiety caused by his manipulative behaviors.

 

[frozen]

Thanks Loner...

No, I am not strong, I am pretty much crippled from all the stress over the years. I do not have finances to get help, or to even have a place to live, but they will, with him, the one who stole it all from me can now give it to them and get away with murder, literally, as most sociopaths do.