Energy Vampires

Intro

Some people possess no positive energy and cannot tolerate those who do have it, so they suck positive energy from those around them. They do not use the energy for themselves; they just drain it from you and let it fade away.

Energy vampires use your fear, insecurity, and guilt against you. They drain the life force from your body by their mere presence. It is not you that they detest; it is your positive energy. Once they have drained your energy and you are depressed and listless, they like it since they can now pretend to nurse you back to health while continuing to drain your energy while you are in a weakened state.

No matter how much you try to store positive energy to defeat them, they will still drain it from you. Just seeing them will weaken you, even if you only see them from a distance.

Classifications of Energy Drainers

• • Energy Predator: These people are like mythical vampires who suck blood from you and drain your life force. Energy predators seek their victims and make planned attacks. They dislike you because of your positive energy and will purposefully go out of their way to drain it at every opportunity. They know what they are doing and have no regret.

  • Energy Parasites: These people do not purposely seek to drain your energy; it is just the way they are. A parasite does not want to kill its victim; it just wants to attach itself and feed. If the victim dies, it is bad for them since there is no more energy upon which to feed. Energy parasites are seemingly normal people. They are well-meaning and may not be aware of their parasitic behavior, but the effect is still the same. When they approach, they drain you of your positive energy and leave you a wasted, empty hulk.

Types of Energy Drainers

• Paranoid Energy Drainers: Some energy vampires are paranoid and think that everyone and everything is out to get them. 

  • • They are fearful of changing their routine habits or learning anything new, even if it will make their lives better. 

    • They cannot tolerate anyone who wants to change or learn, so they usually act as predators that purposefully undermine the efforts of anyone who tries to change or learn something new. 

    • They start arguments just so they can drain your energy. 

    • They may pretend to want to help you, but they are secretly draining your energy. 

    • They expect failure and will facilitate failure to ensure it occurs. 

    • They think they are always right and nothing you may say or do will change that. Even when they are proven wrong, they will not accept your proof.

• Religious energy drainers: These energy vampires are highly religious and believe that humans are inherently sinners. 

  • • They believe the end of the world is coming soon, and that only they and their God can save others from an eternity in hell. 

    • If you do not believe in their beliefs, they will constantly put you down and try to change you by showing you how good they are and how bad you are. 

    • They think their calling in life is to get you to believe the way they believe. 

    • They may be predators or parasites; they may seek you out and attack, or they may just constantly wear you down.

• Insecure energy drainers: Some energy vampires are insecure and think that everyone around them is draining their energy, so their response is to drain energy from others to compensate. 

  • • They may engage you in long, boring conversations and speak very softly so you must strain to hear them; thus, drawing you closer. 

    • They usually have never done anything noteworthy and cannot tolerate anyone who has. Thus, they try to minimize the accomplishments of others and drain their energy.

    • They appear to be helpless, expect you to do things for them, and put themselves before you and others. 

    • They will thank you profusely for your help and then immediately seek more help. 

    • If you try to spend more time on your own life and family, they will try to make you feel guilty about neglecting them and their needs. 

    • They will make remarks to others about how helpless they are and how much they appreciate the few things you ever do for them. 

    • To show their appreciation for what you have done, they will talk about all the things they would do for you if they were only able to do them, even though they never did these things when they were able.

• Passive-aggressive energy drainers: These energy vampires are passive-aggressive. 

  • • They say they want to be self-sufficient, but resist any efforts to help them be self-sufficient. 

    • They ask for your opinion and then reject it. 

    • They say they cannot do something and want you to do it for them, but while you are doing it for them, they constantly tell you are doing it wrong. 

    • They claim their memory is not good, but they remember everything bad that has ever happened. 

    • They will listen to conversations for keywords that allow them to jump in and talk about themselves and how bad things are. 

    • The response to any idea, solution, or suggestion is “yes, but” or “what if.” 

    • They are vindictive and unforgiving, although they claim to be loving and nurturing.

• Child energy drainers: Some energy vampires are created at birth.

  • • These children are extremely capricious. 

    • As they grow, they stay at their parents’ feet and even try to sleep with them at night. 

    • They want to be the center of attention, and, since it is easier to gain attention by doing things wrong than by exerting the extra effort to do things right, they revel in doing things wrong.

• Trouble making energy drainers: These energy vampires subconsciously provoke problems and anger and then feed on the aftermath. 

  • • They like to visit graves and the sites of tragic accidents. 

    • They enjoy seeing, hearing, or reading about problems, sickness, death, or tragedies and then passing this information to others. 

    • They want to be the first to tell others bad news.

    • Lonely energy drainers. Some energy vampires hate being alone; they need someone around so they may feed themselves. 

    • They always need to have someone beside them, with whom they can talk at any moment. 

    • They constantly want other people to feel sorry for them. 

    • They usually say phrases such as, “Stay with me a little longer, I am bored,” or “Don't leave me alone, I'll die.”

• Intellectual energy drainers: These energy vampires seek intellectual justification.

  • • They do not care about the subject of the conversation; their only goal is to prove you wrong and to prove themselves right. You cannot explain anything to them. 

    • They turn any simple conversation into a bunch of questions and explanations, which all ultimately lead to their goal of proving themselves right. 

    • They have an enormous amount of information and energy stored for conversations. 

    • When faced with emotions rather than logic, they will either ridicule or insult.

• Black holes. Some energy vampires are like black holes. When they walk in a room, they suck in all the energy in the room. A cheerful group of people suddenly becomes dark and sullen. The effect is immediate but may last for days. Not only are these victims sullen, but they also tend to make others around them sullen; therefore, one encounter with an energy drainer may affect hundreds of people.

Characteristics of Energy Drainers

• • They are oblivious. Energy vampires may not be aware of their effect on people, but even when they are aware, they do not care. The only thing that matters to them is that they are doing what they want to do, no matter what its effect is upon others.

  • They use "excuse me" as a command. Energy vampires will intrude and ignore your need for privacy. They think they have a right to intrude because they know what is right for you, even though you may not be aware of the need.

  • They are never happy. Energy vampires constantly complain. They see a glass half full as glass that needs to be emptied. They see a cloud behind every silver lining. Everything good that happens is a disaster waiting to happen. They think unhappiness is the norm and that any happiness you may have must be squashed before it leads to your destruction.

  • Everything is a disaster. Some energy vampires are drama queens who make molehills appear to be mountains, a pimple to be cancer, and a sneeze to be the flu.

  • They love to talk about other people's hardships. Energy vampires think the only news worth repeating is about who is having problems or who is sick, dying, or dead. They are at a loss for words when everyone they know is well.

  • They love attention. Some energy vampires are charmers who talk or tell jokes constantly and must be the center of attention.

  • They are always victims. Energy vampires consider themselves victims. Not only does everything bad happen to them, they feel the need to recount all the bad things and then wallow in self-pity.

  • They love to criticize. Energy vampires criticize everything. They believe perfection is impossible to achieve, and anything less than perfect deserves criticism.

  • They do not understand the meaning of the word 'No!" Energy vampires do not accept the word “no” as a proper response to anything they do, so they just ignore it. After all, they know what is right for you even when you are not aware of it.

  • They love to blame. Energy vampires are blamers who try to make others feel guilty for everything that happens.

  • To them, every day is a bad day. Energy vampires have a negative outlook on life. Adam and Eve committed the original sin, and, because of it, we are all doomed to misery. Just as Job was considered a saint for dealing with all the misery God put upon him, energy vampires think they are saints for dealing with all the misery they experience. The more misery in their lives, the saintlier they become in their minds.

  • They are always right. Energy vampires scan do no wrong. Anything bad that occurs in their lives is someone else’s fault.

  • When energy vampires have problems, they are always asking others for solutions. Then they criticize every solution offered and reject it for some minor reason. They do not want solutions; they just want you to sympathize with their problems.

  • If you are sick, they are sicker. If you have a problem or an illness, energy vampires will always have a bigger problem or illness. They are always worse off than anyone else in a room.

  • They say everything is someone else's fault. If it were not for other people, energy vampires think they would have no problems. All their problems are because of someone else.

  • They say they don't want to be a burden. As energy vampires impose upon you daily, they tell you that they do not want to be a burden, thinking that this will make you want to let them impose even more than before.

  • When they see good, they feel the need to destroy it. Energy vampires sense your positive energy and feel a sense of urgency to drain it from you. Your happiness intrudes upon their misery, and thus it must be stopped.

  • They always need help, but it's never enough. Energy vampires never help themselves. They ask for help, but whatever help you give will never be enough.

  • They seek out bad news. Energy vampires love bad news. The first thing they read in the newspaper each day is the obituaries.

  • They rarely commit suicide. Energy drainers, though depressed, are usually not suffering from depression, so they rarely commit suicide because, if they did, they would no longer be able to make the lives of others miserable.

Not all is lost; there are ways for you to protect yourself against energy drainers

• • Avoid them. If they are unavoidable, limit your exposure to them.

  • Find effective ways to end conversations with them. Lying is usually not a good thing, but in this case, it can save your life.

  • When around them, ignore them and think positive thoughts. Limit your responses to yes or no; do not elaborate. Energy vampires will take anything you say and use it to drain more of your energy.

  • Do not get trapped by offering solutions to their problems. They will shoot down every solution and make you seem inadequate to handle problems. Nothing you say will ever change the ways energy vampires do things.

  • Keep walking. When you try to walk away from energy drainers, they will say things such as “Just one more thing” or “There was something else I was going to ask you.” Do not fall for the trick, keep walking, and ignore them.

  • Do not look them in the eye. They are good actors and will try to look helpless to make you feel guilty for not talking to them.

  • Avoid being trapped in spaces with them. Spaces such as in vehicles, elevators, or waiting rooms. They know you cannot escape and will intensify their attacks.

  • Tell them you do not want to talk about negative subjects. However, this will probably not affect their actions.

  • Tune them out. Create a mantra that tunes out negativity, and repeat it to yourself during an attack (such as "Serenity Now," from the Seinfeld television show), or take a cue from The Sound of Music and “Remember a few of your favorite things.”

  • Be kind. Although they sap your energy, parasitic energy vampires are not aware of their actions. That’s just the way they are.

Energy Donors

Just as there are energy vampires, there are energy donors, those who radiate positive energy and share it with others. They bring unexpected lightness and comfort to your life. They crackle with energy and practically electrify you with their presence. After exposure to an energy drainer, seek an energy donor to replenish your soul.