I want to start by saying that energy vampires are real. And I’m not talking about ghouls that are trying to suck up your blood, but common people that either knowingly or unknowingly are feeding off the emotional energy of others.

Have you ever found yourself when an interaction with a person led to you leaving that interaction feeling disoriented, emotionally upset or even physically tired? These are some signs that you might have had an encounter with an energy vampire.

But what I mentioned above is not me trying to blame these people, mostly they are unaware that their behavior is causing distress to others, but more to shed light to the situation in order for you to recognize when someone exhibits these patterns and behaviors and protect yourself from that.

I want to start by saying that energy vampires are real.

In this article, I’m going to introduce you to five types of energy vampires that drain you emotionally and mostly energetically, how to recognize their behavior, and how to deal with the situation when you are near them.

So if you’re ready, let’s begin.

Understanding the Hidden Energy Exchange That Shapes Every Human Connection

As you might have noticed in my latest articles, before diving into the in-depth information about the types of energy vampires I want to discuss, I would like to give you a general picture of the dynamic that can take place when you engage with other people.

Know that with every interaction you have either with friends, family members or even strangers, there’s an energy exchange.

Conversations, emotions, and even body language can have a subtle yet at some point noticeable effect on how you feel after your encounters.

When you’re in the company of a person where there is mutual reciprocity and respect, both parties feel uplifted after parting ways. If there’s an imbalance either in the power dynamics between two people, or any type of manipulation present, the person who is receiving this negativity will experience all the side effects of this toxic contact.

Know that with every interaction you have either with friends, family members or even strangers, there’s an energy exchange.

The insidious thing about this is that if the person who you are interacting with regularly exhibits this toxic behavior, you might not be aware of it because of your desire to genuine be of help, or out guilt that you haven’t done enough, or that you are the sole responsible for the dynamic of your relationship. And even if in your relationship with them you will come to realize that something is off, you might want to do something about, but you don’t know what.

So, what follows, It’s a dive into some traits that will help you that if you recognize soon, we’ll help you avoid being drawn into such toxic relationships with these types of people.

Exploring 5 Types of Energy Vampires That Emotionally Exhaust You

Energy vampires rarely look the way you might expect them to be. As I said above, they might be coworkers, family members, even close friends. They pretend to care about you, but being around them ends up with you feeling that you are the one who drew the short straw.

Realizing the energetic dynamics between you and an energy vampires, is not meant to characterize them as being “bad” or cutting them off (even though in some extreme cases this might be the only way to deal with some of them). It is more for you to realize the patterns that their behavior exhibits and learn how to navigate through them.

What follows is an exploration of five types of energy vampires that you might encounter in your day-to-day life.

1. The Victim Type Who Turns Compassion Into Emotional Fatigue

Let’s talk about the first type, which is the person who always likes to play the victim. These people always complain, always feel pity about themselves, and always blame others for their situation, in order to have your constant attention drawn towards them.

Empathetic people might fall for their game in their attempt to show genuine interest and care towards the problems they bring up. But people who constantly complain do not want to take time for self-reflection or realize that at some point they need to take responsibility for their part of their life situation.

In my experience, the signs that you have interacted with the person who always plays the victim card is that after hanging out with them, you feel responsible for solving their problems, and even worse, guilty that you haven’t done enough to help them.

Let’s talk about the first type, which is the person who always likes to play the victim.

This drains you emotionally and the way out is to draw boundaries by realizing that you cannot help another person solve their problems and you’re not responsible for them but they are, and on the contrary by trying to always to be there for them you’re enabling them in continuing this behavior.

2. The Narcissist and Controller Type Who Uses Attention as an Energetic Hook

The next two types of energy vampires are the narcissist and the controller.

The former lacks the ability to feel empathy for other people, and what feeds them energetically is that through the charisma that they usually have they receive the admiration of others. At the same time, they are so full of themselves that if you are around their orbit and you shift the conversation towards yourself, like when sharing with them your successes or any positive moment in your life, they feel the need to sour your experiences.

The latter love to have the upper hand in relationships, and dislike when their orbiters show the even the slightest element of self-determination, they will try to get back control by belittling anything that has to do with the other person’s strengths and positive traits. They are also in constant competition with the people that they interact with to make themselves feel superior.

When you’re dealing with people who are trying to have your constant attention towards them, are jealous of you and your successes, or are belittling you in any way possible so that they always feel that they are superior to you are, it time for you to reevaluate on how you feel about yourself and your own self-worth.

The next two types of energy vampires are the narcissist and the controller.

What can help you energetically is to stay grounded either by practicing sensory mindfulness, or by connecting with the energy of the earth, which can support you as you draw this energy through your feet, throughout feeling your body and adding stability to your emotional energy body.

You can also know an area behind your navel what is called hara, which is the energetic point of your body’s center of gravity, and by keeping your awareness to that center people might find it difficult to sway you away from yourself through their negative actions.

3. The Critic and Chaos Maker Type Who Thrives on Drama and Negativity

The last two types of energy vampires that I want to discuss here are the critic and the chaos maker.

The person who criticizes all the time about flaws that rarely hold any merit, do not do that from a place of constructive criticism rather than from a place of maliciousness in order for you to feel less than them, and also make you feel you are walking on eggshells when you are around them.

People who love to create chaos around them are people who feel hollow inside and only feel good when they stir up negativity.

This might take the form of gossip or causing problems either by making mountains out of molehills or by putting one person against another. This chaos creates strong emotional reactions, which makes them temporarily feel that they fill the void that they feel inside them.

The last two types of energy vampires that I want to discuss here are the critic and the chaos maker.

In order for you to avoid either being sucked into drama, or finding yourself walking on egg shells when you’re around these people that love to criticize you for every move you do, it is good for you to engage in acts of energetic protection, and also cultivate as strong connection to either your higher self or your intuition so that you can be grounded in your own truth and not being drawn to the toxicity of the people that I just described.

Conclusion

Noticing energy vampires is not about judging people, but more about you being aware of how they affect you and what measures you can take for you not to be affected by their behavior.

Protecting your energy starts with being aware of what is happening when you’re around the said negative people, and thus taking steps like setting boundaries, grounding yourself, energetically shielding yourself, etc.

By doing so, you can continue (if you want) to engage with people that exhibit traits of energy vampires, staying centered and not losing your balance.

Till next time, take care.