Who are energy vampires?
Energy vampires can be anywhere and anyone. They can be your spouse or your best friend. They can be your cubicle mate or your neighbor.
Energy vampires are people who — sometimes intentionally — drain your emotional energy. They feed on your willingness to listen and care for them, leaving you exhausted and overwhelmed. As a result, you feel exhausted, lose the desire to engage in daily activities, complain of severe fatigue, headaches, irritability and more.
You may be surprised, but sometimes they act so deliberately and yes, they do not even hesitate to manipulate you.
Observe those around you and if you find signs of energy vampirism in their behavior, avoid them as much as possible, take care of your health and especially your psyche.
Take into account the following symptoms:
- They don’t take accountability. Energy vampires are often charismatic. They may slink out of trouble when problems arise because of this charm. They’re crafty and may pin problems on someone else in almost every situation. They never accept culpability for their role in any disagreement or issue. You’re often left holding the guilt — and possibly the blame.
- They’re always involved in some kind of drama. Energy vampires always find themselves in the middle of a catastrophe, flailing from target to target with their emotional and dramatic behavior.
- They always one-up you. An energy vampire never likes to be outdone, and they aren’t keen to share the spotlight. This is one of their many narcissistic tendencies.
- They diminish your problems and play up their own. Energy vampires feed off your emotional energy. And if you’re sad or upset, your energy supplies are dwindling. To drain the most energy from you, energy vampires will shift the attention of the discussion to themselves, turning your dismay into their emotional buffet. For example: “I know your job doesn’t pay well, but at least your job is fun. You have to help me find a new one.”
- They act like a martyr. Energy vampires place their problems squarely on the shoulders of other people. They take no responsibility for their contributions to their difficulties.
- They use your good nature against you. People who are sensitive and compassionate are prime targets for energy vampires. You offer a listening ear, a kind heart, and endless energy. In that way, energy vampires use your very nature against you, draining you of your vitality.
- They use guilt trips or ultimatums. Energy vampires often rely on guilt trips to get what they want. They know shame is a great weapon against people who are compassionate and caring.
- They’re codependent. Codependency is a type of relationship where every action is designed to elicit a certain reaction from the other individual. It’s a vicious cycle of behavior, but energy vampires rarely recognize that they’re in them. They use these relationships — often romantic ones — to continue spinning a cycle of drama and emotional need. For example: “I know this isn’t a good relationship, but it’s so much better than trying to get over him and learn to date again. “If I just ignore him for a few days, he’ll totally beg for forgiveness and come crawling back.”
- They criticize or bully. At their core, energy vampires are often insecure. They may use dehumanizing tactics and criticisms to keep their “prey” insecure, too.
- They intimidate. One step removed from criticizing or bullying you, intimidation is a tool some energy vampires turn to when they need to stir up some emotional fodder.
Source:
https://www.healthline.com/health/mental-health/energy-vampires
