Emotional Vampires: Dealing With People Who Drain You Dry
Emotional Vampires: Dealing With People Who Drain You Dry
“Bernstein provides a field guide to the various types of Emotional Vampires and advises readers how to protect themselves from being victims of these predatory personalities.”Andshy;Andshy;Boston Globe
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From bestselling author Albert J. Bernstein
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The author of Dinosaur Brains offers protection from people who seek to destroy the emotional and psychological well-being of others. Like the fabled demons, these vampires:
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- Think their needs are more important than yours .
- Believe “the rules” apply only to other people .
- Use their tempers in the same way terrorists use bombs .
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Emotional Vampires tells readers how to spot a “vampire” in their lives, which defense strategies to employ to prevent one from striking, and what to do if and when they find themselves under attack.
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars Very helpful to me after a difficult time!
When I found myself needing to gently and tactfully extricate myself from the emotionally draining clutches of a close friend of a few years, I tried explaining to her that I no longer felt able to be everything she seemed to need (i.e., I could no longer continue to receive her weeping two-hour telephone calls out of the blue at 2 or 3 a.m., among other things). I was both surprised and relieved when this caused her to decide I was the spawn of Beelzebub and to cut me completely out of her life (as the author predicted would probably happen). (And as the author also assured, she quickly found herself a replacement “host” …)
This was a first for me in 50-some years of life, and afterward, I discovered and read “Emotional Vampires.” I was both amused and amazed as I read about Histrionic Vampires, feeling absolutely certain that the author had followed my former friend around for at least a month, so detailed and accurate was his description of her … from her charm and entertaining humor, to her need to be the center of attention in all situations, to her very exact words (”You’re the *only* one I can talk to”), to her frequent references to the physical ravages of (”malevolent”) yeast. This book was a godsend and made me feel vindicated in some way. If you deal with any very difficult person, especially one you’re unable to disconnect from easily (like family), and you can feel yourself being drained incessantly, I highly recommend that you read this book!
5 Stars Check immediately for missing pages!
This review is about an apparent manufacturing or publisher defect: pages 37 to 84 are missing! They are not ripped out of the book, they are simply not there. I did not start reading it and get to page 37 until after the Amazon 30-day return period was over, so I’ve had to go thru a rigmarole with Customer Service about how to replace the book, ship back the other one, get a refund, etc. Very frustrating. Also, the customer service dept at Amazon classified this as a “damaged in shipment” problem, although I did my best to explain it’s a publishing problem. So now how do I know when they send me the replacement book, the pages will not also be missing. I highly recommend the book, but get it at your local bookshop or if you buy from Amazon, check those pages right away.
5 Stars It explains a lot
Good read for the lay person in plain english. You need to read this so you can keep yourself from falling into the Vampire’s trap.
2 Stars wouldn’t it be better to do something productive
It seems that this book is simply negative. If you are so concerned about these “insane crazy people” then get away from them. Reading a book while imagining these people seems extremely obsessive and histrionic in itself.
5 Stars Living vampire free
I love this book and keep it in my bookshelf at work to assist me and my clients in dealing with emotional vampires. I am a mental health therapist so I deal with emotional vampires every day. This book is a life saver for me throughout my day. I will take it down and read a few pages when I am feeling drained and remember why I feel that way. I also encourage my clients to purchase it and keep it handy for their own healing and self preservation. A must read for both therapists and their clients. Each one of us has some of the vampire qualities of each vampire, it is how we manage these traits and understand ourselves so we don’t become emotional vampires to others in our lives.
Filed under: Personal Development Book Reviews