By Marilyn C. Arayata
HOW can you manage to deal with somebody who is reeking of negativity that his mere presence can drain your energy? He spends most of his time complaining and finding fault in other people. To him, nobody does anything right. Everybody is motivated by selfishness.This person’s voice makes you feel bad even if you don’t do anything against him. He has a lot of demands, but he does not know how to give. He even hurls insults and false accusations at innocent individuals, especially when he cannot get his way. This is the way a toxic person behaves. Author Mateo Sol calls such a person an energy vampire. “If you’ve ever met an energy vampire (and you probably have), you’ll get the distinct feeling that this person has an intense need to prey off the vitality of others. There is a kind of acute neediness present in energy vampires which can be quite overwhelming and depleting to those they come in contact with.”
If you want to protect your mental health, minimize your encounters with an energy vampire if it is impossible to avoid him totally. You protect yourself against dust, smoke, and germs. A toxic person can harm you far greater than the pollutants and organisms that you dread – and it can affect your self-esteem. It can even be traumatic. Think of ways to reduce the number of encounters with this person. Keep them brief, too.
Remember that the behavior of an energy vampire has nothing to do with you. It says so much about him. In fact, how he sees you might just be a projection of his own feelings that he is not able to handle. An energy vampire is a very lonely individual who feeds off other people’s happiness. Again, minimize the encounters. Don’t take anything personally, and learn to forgive. For emotional support, turn to people who are happy to see you grow.
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