What are the long term effects of associating with a psychopath?

The effects of associating with a psychopath vary, depending upon the extent of your association. If you associate casually, then the effects will be experienced in the form of frustration, irritation, or exasperation. However, if your association is more extensive, such as being married to one or having been raised by one, then the effects will much more profound.

Given the psychopath’s adept ability at playing mind games, distorting reality, placing their responsibility upon others, using and manipulating another for their own benefit, using and abusing, and even deriving a sadistic sense of satisfaction from knowing they can control another human being with minimal effort, the impact they can have is both profound and lasting. The worst part is the victim (child or spouse) will find it hard to easily identify what is being done to them, the emotional damage they are experiencing, and the extent of the injustice being perpetrated; however, a deep part of them knows the truth and will want freedom from the pain. That is the point the Survivor starts to find that she/he experiences an increase in symptoms, and an inability to keep a lid on things like they used to.

The following brief posts offer a snapshot of some of the characteristics of a sophisticated Psychopath, how the operate, and what the Survivor experiences after years of being under the control and abuse of a sophisticated “white collar” Psychopath. I use the term “Predator” interchangeably with Psychopath, for that is exactly what they are, whether their ability to emotionally destroy a child year-after-year, or emotionally destroy a partner or a spouse.