From Tampa Bay Wellness - a free local alternative weekly.
By Charles Larsen
The vampire myth exists in almost all cultures, and may well
have been an offshoot of what I term “psychosocial vampirism.”
There are a couple of quirky aspects to the mythological vam-
pire. First, they are all obsessive compulsive, hence, a way to ward
them off is the spreading of rice or other grains in your doorway.
The vampire is compelled to count the grains. Daylight may come
before he/she has done so. Every culture’s vampires must do this.
However, not everyone who is diagnosed obsessive compulsive
is a vampire. Another is their aversion to daylight. This is easily
understood as a result of the many cases of porphyria in Europe.
Not, however, in other parts of the world. Perhaps it was simply the
human tendency to fear the night.
The psychosocial vampire has similarities to good old Dracula
in Transylvania. The vampires of myth, like viruses and bacteria,
must fi nd someone who is highly vulnerable to their overtures,
susceptible to what they wish to do – that is, to drain the life forces
(blood) from them. The psychosocial vampire is one who also seeks
out persons who are vulnerable. They may be in crisis due to their
life stage, as in adolescence, or some traumatic event, or because
they are psychologically unstable either temporarily or chronically.
The psychosocial vampire often reads others very well, to see who
is vulnerable. They are not out for blood, but for the psychological
energy, the life force, of the quarry.
Most of you have experienced being around someone who drains
you of energy and impairs your ability to feel free and positive. I’m
not alluding to one who is experiencing depression of any sort, or
any other mood altering psychiatric disorder. The vampire will at-
tempt to seduce many who are not susceptible, and many who are.
Their effect is debilitating.
He/she achieves some personal satisfaction, some mental nour-
ishment when allowed to deplete another person of their energy.
They use persuasion and seduction, often erotic, when trying
to engage their prey in the exchanges which deplete energy, the
psychological life force. You see this when folks become involved
in all-consuming religions, or cults. Charles Manson was clearly
vampiric (among many other things), because he infl uenced his
followers so that they became his slaves. And still are.
In the 20th century, Hitler is a sociological example of the vam-
pire in action. The nation of Germany was
in a state of great distress due to the World
War I reparations and a worldwide economic
depression. Germany was, after all, a rela-
tive teenager in terms of nationhood, formed
under Bismarck in the late 19th century. Ex-
ternal stressors and the identity diffusion of
being relatively new on the European scene
offered Hitler a vulnerable nation. He promised salvation, similar
to the pleasurable bite of the vampire, immortality (the thousand
year Reich), and unlimited power. The German people supported
him because he forged a nation which became economically and
militarily powerful. He proffered a new and wondrous future for a
nation suffering from feelings of inferiority. And they became almost
invincible. As an aside, they created the Volkswagen at Hitler’s
command. The vampire’s bite had brought prosperity, a promise
of immortality. The wooden stakes in the heart of fascism were
Britain’s unwillingness to surrender in the face of horrendous air
attacks termed, “the blitz,” the resistance of the USSR when Hitler
broke their nonaggression pact, opening up the so-called Eastern
Front, and the United States mobilizing our industrial power to
supply the world with military and other equipment.
In ordinary life one could say that psychosocial vampirism may
be occurring when persuasion, i.e., seduction is used successfully
to induce persons to do those things they would not ordinarily do.
There must be a reward. In Germany it was the rise of the Reich.
Charles gave the Manson girls love and meaning. Being vulnerable
is essential, since even psychosocial vampires cannot use force.
Adolescents are very susceptible to the psychosocial vampire, as
are those beset by poverty, stress, or feelings of unworthiness. We
are probably all psychosocially vampiric at times, and surely we
interact with many temporary or permanent psychosocial vampires,
so it is hoped that this construct is one which may help us better
understand others and ourselves.
Charles is a Licensed Clinical Social worker with undergradu-
ate and graduate degrees from the University of Chicago.
He has an offi ce on Central Avenue in St. Petersburg and
can be reached at his cell (727) 460-6251, or by e-mail,
harrymorgan@earthlink.net.
hence the bump 
primary school? Good to think about 
Linear Mode
