Emotional Vampires

Negative people are like vampires feeding off our emotions. These negative people drain us. They are deeply unhappy with their predicaments, and want to bring us down so they are not alone. You need to understand this, because unless you are a highly attuned yourself you will be dragged down with them.

This is an extremely popular topic now, and most folks say to just drop the negative person from your life. Really?

What if the negative person is your spouse, mother-in-law, sister, boss, or oldest friend? Simple blanket solutions are not always viable. Dropping them doesn’t solve your problem in the above cases. No, it creates more problems like divorce, unemployment, etc. So how do you deal with these emotionally trying people?

Negativity is like cancer

When you have cancer do you just forget about it? No, you get treatment. So you need to treat your situation as a medical emergency. High blood pressure is not good for you and these emotional bottom feeders will raise your blood pressure. Limit contact with them to spare your senses. Try steering the conversation somewhere else. Find excuses to not have to associate with them as much. You may not be able to eliminate them, but you can mitigate their effects on your mood and health.

Don’t accept the invitation to the pity party

Negative people get a kick out of making other people fret. Misery enjoys company. It is your job not to accept the invite. When the negativity starts you need to take action some how. Time for a bathroom break, phone call, or to run an errand. Some emotional vampires are mentally ill, but some are just down on their luck and feeling sorry for themselves. The latter people are salvageable, which is why giving up on them isn’t necessarily a solution to shoot for all the time.

Like attracts Like

We enjoy associating with people who are like ourselves. If however, you are constantly a victim/target of an emotional vampire you need to look inward, and discover what it is about yourself that theses leeches find so attractive. It is almost always easier to change something we can control, than to try and change someone else. Life is complicated enough without dealing with hypochondriacs, drama queens, and the likes of Debbie Downer. Do something about it!

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