gaslighting Archives - Journey Through Heartbreak

The Bog of Despond, Part 1 of 6 – Middle Recovery

October 25, 2022 Jane Dough

Discovery, disclosure, and polygraph are all terribly painful. However during that season, there can be hope for a better future. Also, we have a team of professionals on board to help us get to the other side. Often we’ve even been promised that if we make it through to the other side of disclosure, we’ll have a marriage far better than what we thought we had before Dday. Usually partners decide the new-and-improved relationship is worth the pain that accompanies…

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Nice Guy or Something Else? Summary

January 23, 2022 Jane Dough

Part 1 – Videos on Nice Guys and Pseudo Alpha Males Part 2 – Personality Structure Part 3 – Personality Disorders Part 4 – The Spectrum of an Abuser Part 5 – His Double Life, Her Cognitive Dissonance Part 6 – More on My Story’s Tipping Point Part 7 – Tips for Her Part 8 – Tips for Him While I was writing this series I saw these socks for sale (post photo)! We know better, ladies. Being a so-called…

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Nice Guy or Something Else? Part 7 of 9

January 13, 2022 Jane Dough

Our nice guy husbands don’t seem like narcissists. They’re charming rule-followers, often Christians. So I understand if you have trouble considering that your good guy might be struggling with a personality disorder or a smattering of traits from a few. When I hear the word “narcissist” I think “hollow core.” This word is ubiquitous and means different things to different people. This doesn’t diminish the fact that addicts have narcissistic traits which cause harm to relationships and partners. Narcs have…

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Nice Guy or Something Else? Part 5 of 9

January 4, 2022 Jane Dough

A lot of girls are attracted to the bad boy type. I’ve always liked the nerd or nice guy in the crowd. I grew up around plenty of real life bad boys, and that was no life at all, in my book. I’ve watched countless women be abandoned by dead beat dads. So I went hard in the opposite direction. The opposite of the bad boy would be a grounded, authentic man, not a nice guy. Now we all know…

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Nice Guy or Something Else? Part 4 of 9

December 19, 2021 Jane Dough

Part of what is so maddening about being in recovery with a nice guy is that you’re confronted with what looks like very kind and mature behavior alongside things like deception, betrayal, and even harmful behavior. Here is one duped wife’s account. Many unhealthy folks engaging in the latter kinds of things you can see coming from a mile away. Their lives are littered with broken relationships, immaturity, and aimlessness. Society hasn’t caught up to the notion that one can…

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Nice Guy or Something Else? Part 2 of 9

December 13, 2021 Jane Dough

I find several things about Abdul Saad’s theories brilliant! Did this give you clarity that your spouse is more of one than the other or did you feel like he has characteristics of both a pseudo alpha male and a nice guy? Did he start out nice then become more alpha as he took the downward spiral that Saad talked about in video 5? The truth is that humans have created psychological classifications/categories to try and make sense of human…

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Addiction 101, Part 12: Deception

July 10, 2021 Jane Dough

As the old adage goes: How do you know if an addict is lying? If their mouth is moving. Addiction and lying are inseparable. More than anything, the vast web of lies and deceit her partner has spun for years is what leaves a betrayed partner immobilized and hopeless about rebuilding any kind of trust or future. Especially for couples from faith traditions, the ability the addict has to lie – often by omitting important truths – leaves the faithful…

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Coming to Terms, Part 1 of 3

November 1, 2020 Jane Dough

Hearing Dr. Jake Porter explain how infidelity causes the filing system of a partner’s brain to “explode” resonates, doesn’t it? Here we are, ladies, with all our files, memories, and self-concepts dumped all over the place. We don’t know where to begin putting ourselves back together, but we want so desperately to function again. The thought of living under these new circumstances is daunting! In this day in time, most marriages fail. I’d say usually both parties are happy about…

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