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When Love Becomes an Obsession If you think you won't be stalked, think again. According to statistics put out by the National Center for Victims of Crime, 1 out of every 12 women will be stalked during her lifetime and 1 out of 45 men will be stalked during his lifetime. Which begs this question: Why would someone stalk another? To be sure, the answer is complicated, however there is a certain type of stalker that we should all be concerned about. What follows is the definition of an Intimacy Stalker, including a few of the motivational reasons behind their behavior as well as a possible personality type: The Intimacy Stalker Reasons Why They Stalk - Believes the victim is an ideal partner.
- May believe the victim is in love with them.
- Believes that the victim is the only person who can satisfy their desires.
Personality Type & Victim Characteristics - Isolated and shy.
- May live alone and lacks other intimate relationship in his/her life.
- May suffer from a mental disorder, including a narcissistic personality disorder.
- May stalk complete strangers or those who they have just met socially.
Stalking Behaviors - May write inappropriate letters to the victim begging for attention.
- May make repeated telephone calls to the victim.
- May send unwanted gifts to the victim.
- May secretly follow the victim.
- May break into victim's email account to monitor discussions with others.
- May become threatening or violent if rejected by the victim.
Steps To Proect Yourself From A Stalker To begin with, if you feel that you are being stalked, take the situation seriously! Don't ignore the person's behavior and assume that it will go away over time - chances are in won't! Here are a few things that you can do to protect yourself: - Consider obtaining a restraining order.
- File police reports for harassment and save them.
- Destroy all personal paperwork or buy a shredder. Some stalkers have been known to go through their victim's garbage to secure personal information.
- Keep a daily diary of harassing behaviors. This may prove useful should you have to go to court.
- Tell your friends, co-workers and supervisors of your situation so that they are aware of the threat. You may also want to advise human resources.
- Change your telephone number and get a caller ID Box.
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