Description
Book SynopsisProtect yourself from people who take undue advantage and suck the energy out of your life
Emotional Vampires will help you cope effectively with the people in your life that confound you, confuse you, and seem to sap every ounce of your energy. Bestselling author Dr. Al Bernstein shows you how to recognize each vampire type--antisocial, histrionic, narcissists, obsessive-compulsives, paranoids--and deal with them effectively. He uses many examples from the latest news headlines, which will help you distinguish between the types and deepen your understanding of each one.
In response to the daily calls and emails he got about the previous edition of this book, Dr. Al Bernstein has added his advice for dealing with those emotional vampires who come in the shape of spouses and lovers, relatives, and children. Dr. Bernstein shows you how to deal with each vampire type and what you need to do to keep from getting drained.
Table of Contents1 Children of the Night
Are They Really Vampires?
Antisocial Vampires
Histrionic Vampires
Narcissistic Vampires
Obsessive-Compulsive Vampires
Paranoid Vampires
2. Maturity and Mental Health
What Causes People to Become Emotional Vampires?
Immaturity Versus Evil
The Everybody and Nobody Rule
What If You See Yourself?
3. The Way of Vampires
Vampires Are Different
Vampires Prey on Humans
Vampires Can’t See Themselves in a Mirror
Vampires Are More Powerful in the Dark
Protecting Yourself from Vampires
4. Lovable Rogues
The Ferrari-Toyota Dilemma
How to Recognize an Antisocial Vampire
The Antisocial Emotional Vampire Checklist: Listening to the Call of the Wild
What the Questions Measure
5. Vampire Daredevils
The Physiology of Excitement
Daredevil Hypnosis
Female Daredevils
How Vampires Keep You Coming Back for More
10 Ways to Protect Yourself from Daredevils
6. Daredevils in Your Life
The Action Hero
The Liar
The Unfaithful Lover
Daredevil Ex-Husband
Daredevil Dads
Daredevil Adult Children
7. Antisocial Used Car Salesmen
Used Car Hypnosis
Is Honesty Really the Best Policy?
8. Vampire Bullies
The Instinct for Aggression
Vampire Bully Hypnosis
What to Do About Bullies
How to Do the Unexpected
9. Antisocial Used Car Salesmen and Bullies in Your Life
Living with a Liar
Bullies in Your Life
Living in a Minefield
10. Therapy for Antisocial Vampires
The Goal
Anger Control Treatment
Treatment for Addiction
Self-Help
What Will Hurt
11. Show Business, Vampire Style
What It’s Like to Be Histrionic
The Histrionic Dilemma
What the Questions Measure
The Histrionic Vampire Checklist: Living a Soap Opera
How to Protect Yourself from Histrionic Vampires
12. Vampires Who Ham It Up
Ham-It-Up Hypnosis
Writing a Safe Role for Yourself
Illness as Theater
Celebrities, Fans, and Wannabes
Nine Ways to Protect Yourself from Histrionic Hams
13. Passive-Aggressive Vampires
Giving Until It Hurts
Illness as Communication
Passive-Aggressive Hypnosis
The High-Self-Esteem Syndrome
Nine Ways to Protect Yourself from Passive-Aggressive Histrionics
14. Histrionics in Your Life
Histrionic Martial Arts
My Mother, the Drama Queen
The Queen of Gossip
Your Depressed Sister
Male Histrionics
15. Therapy for Histrionic Vampires
The Goal
Professional Help
Self-Help
What Will Hurt
16. Big Egos, Small Everywhere Else
What It’s Like to Be Narcissistic
The Narcissistic Dilemma
Narcissism and Self-Esteem
What the Questions Measure
The Narcissistic Vampire Checklist: Identifying the Self-Styled Smartest, Most Talented, All-Around Best People in the World
17. Vampires Who Are Legends in Their Own Minds
How Narcissistic Legends Prevent Themselves from Succeeding
Narcissistic Legend Hypnosis
How to Socialize Narcissistic Legends
Nine Ways to Protect Yourself from Narcissistic Legends in Their Own Minds
18. Vampire Superstars
Dealing with Superstars’ Insatiable Needs
Superstar Hypnosis
Sex and the Superstar
Superstar Depression and Anger
Nine Ways to Protect Yourself from Narcissistic Superstars
19. Narcissists in Your Life
Pundits from Hell
Tiger Mom
Season’s Greetings from the Narcissist in Your Life
20. Therapy for Narcissistic Vampires
The Goal
Professional Help
Self-Help
What Will Hurt
21. Too Much of a Good Thing
What It’s Like to Be Obsessive-Compulsive
How Much Is Too Much?
Punishment, Where Good and Evil Meet
What the Questions Measure
The Obsessive-Compulsive Vampire Checklist: Vice Masquerading as Virtue
The Obsessive-Compulsive Dilemma
22. Vampire Perfectionists and Puritans
Why Do They Always Seem Angry?
Obsessive-Compulsive Hypnosis
Product Versus Process
Demanding Priorities
Perfectionists
How the Imperfect Can Deal with Perfectionists
Puritans
Meet Your Inner Teenager
Nine Ways to Protect Yourself from Obsessive-Compulsives: What to Do When the Good Guys Are After You
23. Obsessive-Compulsives in Your Life
Control Freak
Control Freak Parents
Married to a Control Freak
24. Therapy for Obsessive-Compulsive Vampires
The Goal
Professional Help
What Will Hurt
25. Seeing Things That Others Can’t
Paranoid Purity
What It’s Like to Be Paranoid
The Paranoid Emotional Vampire Checklist: Next Stop, the Twilight Zone
What the Questions Measure
26. Vampire Visionaries and Green-Eyed Monsters
The Paranoid Quest
Paranoid Hypnosis
Visionaries
How to Recognize Crazy Ideas
Paranoids and Religion
Green-Eyed Monsters
The Nine Elements of Vampire-Fighting Strategy: How to Give Paranoids a Glimpse of Reality
27. Therapy for Paranoid Vampires
The Goal
Professional Help
Self-Help
What Will Hurt
28. Sunrise at Dracula’s Castle
Index
FootNote
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