But the line between going ga-ga for someone and becoming completely delusional about the boundaries of the relationship is a fine one.
If your newest fling's behavior is starting to give you a serious case of the heebie-jeebies and you wonder where the glowing personality went that you met on the first date, you may have hitched up with a psycho.
From bunny-boiling to phone-tapping, incessant emails to branding-style scratched initials in your back, there's a lot to be afraid of. Herewith, six signs your honey is half-baked.
Communication Overload
There's a difference between an eager beaver and a psychotic partner. An eager beaver calls you once and leaves all their phone numbers and email addresses so you can find them when you get the urge to reach out. A wacko calls all of your numbers and sends messages to all of your email addresses -- all day and every day. And the more time that passes between live interaction with a psycho, the more nutsy the notes and messages become. "Hey, it's me" morphs into "I've called 12 times...where are you?" and finally "Pick up the phone or I swear I'm gonna boil the bunny."
Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire
The fibs seem harmless at first; they may even be confused or couched as miscommunications. But psycho partners lie incessantly in an attempt to control you. So what starts as lies about small things, like liver also being his favorite food (so that it looks like you two are so similar you must be soul mates) escalates into elaborate fabrications about him needing your emotional support because he's just discovered that he has an identical twin brother whose cancerous liver will self-implode without a transfusion of your lover's genetically matched blood. Beware the contradictions, the overabundance of justifying details, the well-timed dramas.
Stalk Talk
Don't be fooled by the cliché image of a trenchcoat-clad dude running from telephone pole to telephone pole as he follows his victim home from the bar. Stalking girlfriends and boyfriends come in all shapes and sizes (and outfits). And their techniques are many: from blatantly setting up tent and bonfire on your front stoop to see what time you get home, to "coincidentally" planting themselves in public places they know you'll frequent -- your neighborhood porn shop, your synchronized swimming class, the recycling room in the basement of your building. Don't discount the idea of your phone being tapped if it seems your lover knows secrets you've shared only with friends over the phone. If you're starting to get that creepy "being watched" feeling and have actually found yourself wondering how the witness protection program works, you've probably made allies with a lunatic.
