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How do I tell if a threat is credible?

Sam Vaknin is the author of "Malignant Self-love: Narcissism Revisited" and 8 other books about personality disorders and abuse in relationships with narcissists and psychopaths. He is the owner and moderator of support forums and the first person to have written about the Narcissistic Personality disorder (NPD) online (in 1997). He invented many of the terms currently used to describe the disorder and its effects on family, the workplace, and in various professions.

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How do I tell if a threat is credible?

Postby AmberEyes on Thu Oct 08, 2009 3:06 am

How do I tell if threats or credible or just "talk"? I'm trying to anticipate what my exBF (diagnosed sociopath) might do. He violated the OP and was arrested, and I was surprised. In his email he even referred to the fact that he knew I would call the police and he thought that was good, because then he could get me into court and prove I am a liar.

When we were together he treatened to get me fired, f*** me up, call the police and have me held in jail because he said I was mentally ill (and he told me it was some sort of number that I imagine he thought was a code for doing that according to the police, probably to make it sound like he knew what he was talking about,) he said that he would enjoy getting back at me and enjoy f****** me up. He drugged me. He has abused the legal system and I have to hire an attorney to get out of it. He told me he was a sociopath and that sometimes it is good to have a sociopath on your side. He told me that he used to get in a lot of fights, and would smile when he was fighting. One thing that upset me towards the end was that he had told me for months how much he loved his sister, then abruptly he stopped talking to her and said he never loved her. He said if he cannot live in my house, then he will see to it that I cannot either. I have gaps in my memory...he probably made other threats and told me other things, I just cannot remember. They're in my head somewhere.

The scariest thing he said to me was "just like I can love on a cat and detach and shoot it, don't fool yourself, I can detach from you too."

It also seems to me he has multiple personalities, his voice changes, the words he uses. He is extremely intelligent, but will sometimes talk or act like he isn't. His use of punctuation and grammer changes dramatically. His mannerisms change. I sense three personalities, a child-like person, an intelligent somewhat insightful person, and the sociopath.

I would like to know your thoughts on this man.
"It takes two to speak the truth. One to speak, and another to hear." Henry David Thoreau
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Re: How do I tell if a threat is credible?

Postby AmberEyes on Thu Oct 08, 2009 11:53 pm

I should also add that he wrote a song about this whole mess and sang it to some people. These people also made fun of him about other things. He went from being the "star" and center of attention to being ridiculed and I am afraid he might take that out on me. It is difficult for me to put so many identifying factors up here, but where my home is would be beneficial to his career, and he only lived here two months, so I felt like he "lost face" in the process of my having him removed. There were very few problems until about 3 months before the relationship ended. At that point he started drugging me. When I didn't go along with what he wanted, he would tell me and some of his friends that I was crazy and just needed the right medications and everything would be okay. He said the whole neighborhood could see I was crazy. As I see it, by my admitting I was crazy, that saved face for him, and I refused to do it. His behavior escalated to violence quickly and shortly after I filed the order of protection. Also when he would act out he would insist that I apologize and that if I did everything would be ok.
I realize now that his relationship with me, this home (which is in my name, I paid for it) were all to make him "look good" (as he once told me I did for him) and present a certain appearance that would help his career, and he was on his way up, and the loss of me and this home has hurt his ego, his appearance of stability, and to some extent his career. Actually, it has probably hurt his career quite a bit as the business he is in is a small world and word gets around. The location of my home is tied in with the business. (the entertainment business.)
He is a felon who skipped bail and hid for several months before going to prison. He has convinced many people he was reformed and changed, obviously he has not. His exwife and I both believe he has killed before. I know now he is capable of killing. His ex says she is concerned for me. In looking through his paperwork I found info from his ex where she wrote that he was obsessed with guns and making bombs out of 22 shells and also making silencers for guns. He has had mob connections, but I found out that they stole from him, so they are not his friends any longer, but still....
I feel like that the fact that I was not subservient and did as I was told, I have blown his cover. He thought he had me under control and that I would do anything he said. He has left the other women who have OPs against him alone, but they don't have anything he wants (which I do) and their situation did not cause him the embarrassment that this situation (may) have caused, though I am SURE he is telling himself and everyone that this happened due to my mental instability.
So far I have presented a strong front, but I am not sure how to respond to him. If I give in, will it ever stop? I have no contact with him. I am following the letter of the law.

Edited to add: I went though all his papers to copy for the DA. I found some pretty macabre drawings. Two in particular were of clowns with guns (John Wayne Gacy did that.) Once says "This is a stick up, don't make it a murder." I copied them to give to the DA.
"It takes two to speak the truth. One to speak, and another to hear." Henry David Thoreau
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