(This isn’t the usual sort of thing we discuss on Culturcidal, but it’s fun and it may help some people, so why not pop out a little bonus column for everyone?) It all starts with this absolutely fascinating post that was on Reddit: I (29F) think my SO (30M) is poisoning me, but I am not sure and I don't know what to do
That was interesting! I think her problem is psychosomatic: of or relating to a disorder having physical symptoms but originating from mental or emotional causes. Without more information regarding her relationship with her SO, which she appears to believe is on good terms, it's not easy to know why she would come to the conclusion she is being poisoned. Correlation does not equal causation. Perhaps she has a histrionic personality type. I mean, if I thought my SO was poisoning me, I wouldn't continue to eat food supplied by him, or I'd set up a situation in which he also ate the same food with me. She makes it sound like he's bringing her food frequently. Why? Once in awhile, like a time or two a month, might be reasonable but more than that strikes me as excessive.
It's possible she has some history of being gaslighted or betrayed in a significantly sneaky manner, and this may make her sensitive to drawing this kind of conclusion.
Yes. I'd say first step: Try not eating his family's food for a while and see if the problem goes away. If it does, then it may be the food. If it doesn't, then it's not the food and the timing of the food was just a coincidence. As the author says, even if it is the food, it's not necessarily deliberate poisoning. Maybe there's a spice they like and include in almost everything that you're allergic to. Etc.
With no apparent motive, deliberate poisoning seems pretty unlikely. It could be the timing is complete coincidence. (Did her health decline start EXACTLY the same time she started eating this food? Or just sort of kind of around the same time?) It could be something in the food that is not deliberate. It could be psychological, like the relationship seems so good there just MUST be something wrong. Etc.
That was interesting! I think her problem is psychosomatic: of or relating to a disorder having physical symptoms but originating from mental or emotional causes. Without more information regarding her relationship with her SO, which she appears to believe is on good terms, it's not easy to know why she would come to the conclusion she is being poisoned. Correlation does not equal causation. Perhaps she has a histrionic personality type. I mean, if I thought my SO was poisoning me, I wouldn't continue to eat food supplied by him, or I'd set up a situation in which he also ate the same food with me. She makes it sound like he's bringing her food frequently. Why? Once in awhile, like a time or two a month, might be reasonable but more than that strikes me as excessive.
It's possible she has some history of being gaslighted or betrayed in a significantly sneaky manner, and this may make her sensitive to drawing this kind of conclusion.
Yes. I'd say first step: Try not eating his family's food for a while and see if the problem goes away. If it does, then it may be the food. If it doesn't, then it's not the food and the timing of the food was just a coincidence. As the author says, even if it is the food, it's not necessarily deliberate poisoning. Maybe there's a spice they like and include in almost everything that you're allergic to. Etc.
With no apparent motive, deliberate poisoning seems pretty unlikely. It could be the timing is complete coincidence. (Did her health decline start EXACTLY the same time she started eating this food? Or just sort of kind of around the same time?) It could be something in the food that is not deliberate. It could be psychological, like the relationship seems so good there just MUST be something wrong. Etc.