Danger Has A Face

At a recent funeral, I reconnected with an acquaintance I hadn’t talked with for over 10 years.  As we started to catch up, she launched into her story of a person I had introduced to her 11 years ago.  She said, “I guess I should tell you that you introduced me to a psychopath!”  I was shocked, as I had only known this person for months before I introduced them. He immediately created some conflict between us and I did not see either of them again until recently. As she talked about the psychopath, and as I remembered, it was all too obvious that I had not seen the signs that pointed to who he really was.  He was extremely charismatic, agreeable to the point that she thought he could be her “soulmate”, he was educated and witty.  He liked to keep her isolated from her friends and family, but she thought he was just really “into” her and intense.  When he started to become actively involved in her life, finances and business interests, she welcomed the help and advice and believed him when he said it would bring them closer.  Soon, however, he was controlling all aspects of her life and he escalated the conflict, tension, drama and abuse in her life for the next 10 years. I am happy to say that she is finally recovering from her ordeal with this psychopath, but as she quietly announces with her eyes cast downward, “I will never be the same.”  Eleven years ago, I couldn’t recognize a psychopath and I unknowingly introduced one to my friend.  Now, after years of abuse with another psychopath in my life, I not only recognize them, I now know how to step aside and let them pass without endangering myself or my friends any longer.