No one thinks when they are in the beginning of dating bliss, that this sweet and loving person has the capacity to turn into anything else. But we can find ourselves in a situation where the former angel is now a fire breathing serpent and we have to take actions to protect ourselves from their hot breath.

It’s not easy, especially if there is still feelings for this person, but you have to face realities and take decisive steps to both protect yourself and to let them know you will not be treated badly by them without repercussions. Here are the necessary steps to take to protect yourself.

General Behavior:

Stop communicating with them immediately: If you are still communicating with your Ex., stop immediately. Discontinue emailing, texting, talking on the phone, or speaking in person. This person is only interested in finding more ways to bring you pain, and because they know you so well, they will use these opportunities to communicate, to hurt you. Do not think you can rationalize or turn things around by talking. When someone is acting crazy, you have to let them go.

Keep your cool: Expect that there will be anger and vitriol directed at you in a way intended to provoke you. Do not allow this to happen. Avoid direct contact with your Ex. and if it happens do not argue, simply walk away. Their goal will be to make you mad and do something emotional that may get you on the bad side of the police or a lawsuit. Don’t fall for it.

Online

Get Help Immediately: You need to immediately hire an online reputation management company and the reason is simple. Your Ex. Is going probably going to first go after you and ruin you online. This will entail going to your Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and possibly LinkedIn pages and telling all of your contacts what a horrible person you truly are and how you deserve to be excommunicated from their lives. Your Ex. Will also potentially begin posting any incriminating photos, videos and notes about you for the entire social media universe to see and share. You Ex. may even create websites dedicated solely to broadcasting how dishonorable and unworthy of trust and respect you are. These actions in addition to being painful to bear, can destroy your good reputation and jeopardize your business, job, and standing with customers and peers.

An online reputation management company will immediately step in to counteract all of your Ex.’s activities. They will work aggressively to get removed any untrue and slanderous material that has been placed on the web and prevent what is there from spreading. They will also provide a foundation of facts for you to go after your Ex. legally.  By the way, you should also of course delete your Ex. From all of your social media accounts, but do not count on this slowing down a crazy Ex.

Offline

Return their Stuff: TVs, jewelry, clothing, and anything else of theirs in your possession needs to be returned to them with no strings attached. You Ex. will use this stuff as a reason to continue to try and communicate with you. You have to take that reason away. So give it all back. And if possible, use a third party to deliver the stuff to your Ex.

Change your door locks, pin numbers, alarm codes and passwords: Unless you are 100% sure your Ex. does not have it, change it immediately. If your Ex. has them count on them using them. You do not want to go to your bank account and find out it is empty and your unemployed Ex. is on vacation in Aruba. If you are unsure whether they have the code or the key, change it to be safe.

It won’t be easy, but if you keep a cool head and let some time pass, your crazy Ex. will probably move on to harass someone else. So follow the advice above and pick a better relationship partner next time.