Have you had to be around people who seem to take your energy, exchanging it for a significant dose of negativity? It is possible that it is an emotional vampire.
This is the name given to a type of person who has a complete lack of empathy, and the incredible ability to weaken our emotional states. They are those friends that, even if you love them very much, you don’t always want to see: because you know that when you leave them, you will feel spiritually exhausted.
They are characterized mainly by their inability to put themselves in another’s place. They use others as a repository of their negativity, and then they leave lightly, while you have to carry what they threw at you.
There are several types of “vampire” personalities, and we will detail them below so that you can learn to distinguish them.
1. Critical
This type of emotional vampire is the one who will always have an answer for everything you have to say. In the end, he will prove to you that you are always wrong and he is always right.
Also, they complain about everything and everyone. He will not speak well of anyone, or anything. He will always look for the cat’s fifth leg to show that nothing is too good; nothing, except himself and his beliefs, of course.
This type of emotional vampire should not be humored. He can be very irritating, but if you start trying to beat him… he’ll have beat you! That’s what he’s looking for, so you better agree with him and something else.
Of course, take care not to get infected and start criticizing too much.
2. Catastrophic and pessimistic
Another common personality in emotional vampires is pessimism. Always see that things go wrong, that nothing goes right. They are not able to see the glass “half full” as who would say, or get something good out of things.
Therefore, they can also be catastrophic. That is, exaggerate the bad, to the point of creating a giant problem of something relatively simple.
Those who take pessimism to the extreme believe in everything bad that happens around them, in the news, and in the world, and the worst thing is that they often feel it as something personal. Everyone does horrible things to him.
You must take care of this type of emotional vampire so that they do not take away your natural optimism. Try to remember, when you talk to someone like this, that they have a skewed view of the world, and that their perceptions are not real.
3. victim
This type of “vampiric” personality is characterized by always putting itself in the role of victim. He is always the one left aside, the forgotten one, the one who gives more than he receives (in speech, of course).
You must be especially careful of this type of emotional vampire, because any false step you take will be taken personally. He will make you feel guilty for having treated him that way, and he will expect compensation for your bad attitude.
The most important thing you have to keep in mind is that it is not something personal: they do the same with everyone, since they feel that everyone is against them. Relax and don’t let him blame you for having acted as you thought was appropriate.
4. Aggressive
This can be the most dangerous emotional vampire, reacting violently to anything they don’t like. The worst thing about it is that it doesn’t happen only on specific occasions, and with a subject that makes him too fanatical (although in that case the violence is not justified either, it is not necessarily a symptom of an emotional vampire).
The aggressive vampire is one who will simply attack you whenever you disagree with him. They are the kind of people who, instead of using arguments to support something, will get angry if they contradict it. And point.
He is a difficult personality to carry, because they do not understand dialogue, and it is impossible to have a conversation with him without getting angry with you at some point. To these types of people, it is better that you distance them as much as you can from your life.
5. Joker
Joking emotional vampires seem, at first glance, the most likeable. But that’s the bad thing, because it’s hard to discover that they really are emotional vampires.
They almost always use sarcasm to attack everyone around them. They usually make you laugh with their jokes, but deep down, they hurt the person to whom it is directed. The worst thing is that you can’t tell them anything, because they will always hide behind the fact that they weren’t serious.
These types of people are very harmful to self-esteem because, in the end, the only thing they enjoy is laughing at others and at you. The best thing you can do is not “celebrate” their jokes, when they are aimed at hurting someone; since tomorrow they can fall on you.
6. Handler
This type of emotional vampire is quite different from the previous ones. In reality, he is the one who will demand your attention by showing himself weak and helpless: a pushover.
It will actually drain your energy through a rather dangerous tool: pity. These emotional vampires make others feel that they can’t get by on their own, and that they really need them to achieve something in life.
Thus, the people around him will feel sorry for him and help him, believing that at some point he will be able to move forward alone. But since he is an emotional vampire, this will never happen. On the contrary, he will get worse every time.
It shouldn’t surprise you that these types of people, when you need something from them, magically disappear from around you.
In order not to fall into their traps, you must remember that everyone is their own master, and that you can help those who need you, but you cannot save them. Give your best, but when it starts to hurt you, learn to let go.