Alex didn’t think I was serious when I mentioned to him that I might be the one who’s draining his energy these past few days.

The spirit was willing but the flesh was weak, so he had to take two days off to rest his weary body, after consecutive late nights finishing his sideline writing jobs and putting up with my mood swings. So I told him, maybe I was indirectly or unintentionally contributing to his poor condition.

If there are emotional vampires, there are energy vampires, too. According to Laurie Pawlik Kienlen in http://psychology.suite101.com/article.cfm/stop_energy_vampires, energy vampires “drain your spirit by depleting your positive energy, just like real vampires slurp blood. Energy vampires - such as drama queens - leave you feeling drained and listless…” and from OPRAH.com, “…those who leave you feeling stressed out. Or guilty. Or exhausted down to your very last molecule.”

Yup, not all vampires are like the Cullens (well, their beauty is breath-taking, but that’s another story) or the ones in Anne Rice’s novels. "Human beings are sources of energy, and every interaction involves an exchange of that energy," says Jon Gordon, author of Energy Addict. "Even if you're in great health, an energy vampire can cause you to feel exhausted."

Psychiatrists say there are eight most common types of energy vampires: sob sister, drama queen, blamer, fixer-upper, outwardly nice socializer, go-for-the-jugular fiend, constant talker/joke-teller, and unintentional sapper, although there may be other varieties who are “lurking in dark shadows.”

I came across the “energy vampire” term in a forum. One of the forum members said, a trick is to hide the thumb behind all four fingers. It is said to close one’s aura. Another is to “cut cords.” When we relate to people, we create cords (or ties) and sometimes, the member said, the stress that we feel is not ours, but that of the energy vampire. Some do “shielding”, or creating shields (or bubbles) which Bella ably demonstrated in Breaking Dawn.

There are ways that are more practical, as shared by Kienlen in 11 Ways to Protect Yourself From Energy Vampires:

1. Limit the amount of time you spend with energy vampires. The less time you're together, the less positive energy you'll lose.
2. Learn effective ways to end conversations with energy vampires (eg, I only have ten minutes to talk.")
3. Stay calm and detached from energy vampires. Don't let their negative energy consume you.
4. Be honest about your needs (e.g. "I need this time to work/read/relax/exercise.")
5. Refrain from attempting to rescue them or fix an energy vampire's problems.
6. Practice walking away from energy vampires; the more you do it, the easier it gets.
7. Limit eye contact with energy vampires.
8. Avoid being in close spaces with energy vampires (elevators, cars, etc). Negative energy is catching.
9. Define and guard your personal space from energy vampires.
10. Tell energy vampires you feel uncomfortable discussing particular people or circumstances.
11. Stand up for yourself and your boundaries! Your time, positive energy, and resources are precious and should be closely guarded from energy vampires.

O ayan, Daddy, I’m giving you tips na, ha