Characteristics of a Stalker: Trust Your Instincts

It says something very significant about the degree of doubt one has been forced to have-- to doubt her own instincts, her own sense of what is wrong and intolerable, her own sense of "hold" over her own life, all of these doubts never existing before-- when it requires the assistance of those with "uniforms and badges" labeling her experiences with "the real words." How does an average adult-aged female go from the position of being basically content with herself and her life, gained from experience maturity, to being in the position of being at someone else's mercy (or, more accurately, lack thereof) and her life no longer being her own?

A stalker has one main purpose: he wishes Control-- and his method of achieving this is to systematically "one-up" his potential victim.

A stalker may be a total stranger; or he may be someone whom you know. A stalker may go about what he is doing without you being aware that any of it is happening; or he may proceed with your knowledge but despite your objections. The first point to keep in mind is the basic criteria that his actions are against your will.

In "one-upping" you, he is systematically granting himself "rights" by taking away yours, granting himself "power" by rendering you powerless; and gaining an unwanted foothold in your life, which results in pushing you out of your own "place" in it.

The first defense is in knowing the facts-- trusting your own instincts, being aware of a stalker's methodology, and knowing the factors which constitute "stalking." The reason the latter is so essential is that an individual who places himself in the position of preying upon someone against her will has cultivated the amazing art of "rationalizing and justifying"-- calling his behavior and actions by different names in order to make it appear acceptable, as if you must accept what you do not deem acceptable at all.