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The
following release is provided for our media friends. For additional
information, email publicity@impactpublishers.com
Press Release Looking
for the Wrong Love in All the Right Places?
Patrick
fell for Zoë the instant he saw her. But he wasn’t prepared for the
intensity beneath her pretty, seductive surface. Sexually demanding,
volatile, and even suicidal, she turned their brief relationship into a
vortex of instability and negativity that left Patrick wary of risking
intimacy again.
Are
you dating or living with someone whose everyday behavior causes you
distress? Looking back, do you see alarming similarities in the kinds of
lovers you’re drawn to, and wonder what it is about you (and them)
that keeps you coming back for more? You are not alone.
A
landmark survey by the National Institutes of Health (2004) revealed
that about 15 percent of the adult population -- over 16 million
potential relationship partners -- suffers from one or more personality
disorders. Even if you’re looking for love in a relatively healthy
environment -- church, college, work -- chances are that nearly one of
five potential partners has some serious personality problem. At singles
bars or online dating services -- settings that draw those who’ve had
trouble finding love elsewhere -- the probability of encountering weird,
or even dangerous, personalities escalates even more.
Personality-disordered
partners (“PDPs”), say Drs. W. Brad Johnson and Kelly Murray, have
personality traits that are almost always odd, high-maintenance,
difficult, and toxic to genuine, lasting love. “Personality disorders
are enduring patterns of seeing, relating to, and thinking about both
the world and oneself that are rigid, and ultimately sabotage
relationships,” they explain. “Sometimes more subtle forms of these
disorders are hard to detect early on. You may be charmed and taken in,
only to wonder later how you could have missed the warning signs.”
Johnson
and Murray wrote Crazy Love: Dealing with Your Partner's Problem
Personality as a practical guide to identifying PDPs early and avoiding
them as prospective mates, or finding help if you are in a committed
relationship with someone whose disturbing, manipulative behavior leaves
you feeling exhausted and diminished. Whether you are involved with an
impaired partner or recognize yourself in the patterns described,
you’ll find encouragement and expertise for taking action in an
informed, responsible, safe and healthy way.
Highlights
include:
“Finding
the right partner and maintaining a healthy love relationship is hard
work in the best of circumstances,” Johnson and Murray acknowledge.
“It is much harder when your partner has a personality disorder. By
learning to detect impairment up front, you will be in a position of
considerable power to avoid the heartache that can accompany
relationships with them. Life is just too short to spend most of it
walking on eggshells.”
W.
Brad Johnson is an Associate Professor of Psychology at the United
States Naval Academy and a Faculty Associate in the Graduate School of
Business and Education at Johns Hopkins University. A clinical
psychologist, he is a fellow of the American Psychological Association
and the author of many publications including seven previous books in
the area of mental health and counseling.
Kelly
Murray is an Assistant Professor and Director of Ph.D. Clinical
Education at Loyola College in Baltimore. She is also a clinical
psychologist who is in Private Practice in Bethesda, Maryland, where she
works and writes in the areas of personality disorders, relationships
and trauma. Crazy
Love is
published as a trade paperback and available at online and local
bookstores nationwide or directly from Impact Publishers, P.O.
Box 6016, Atascadero, CA 93423-6016, www.impactpublishers.com,
or phone 1-800-246-7228. |