Everyone knows the feeling of a loss of emotional, spiritual, mental, and physical energy after an encounter with another person. In daily life, we don't bother to analyze this feeling any further although we do sense a draining of energy. We tend to accept the relations to those with whom we come into contact as unavoidable and accept many an irritation as part of the job. Some of us even blame ourselves for these negative sentiments. This is because we live in a time in which it is "in" to be under constant stress; indeed, it's almost the "done" thing these days to be exhausted when you get home in the evening. This socially acceptable fatigue is really an act of self-deception. It underlies deep emotional stress, which slowly builds up in our immediate social environment without our being fully aware of what is happening.

This book will assume that we are all surrounded by energy suckers or psychovampires capable of causing us emotional stress. There is no one typical vampire type; they come in all sorts of different guises. The authors have identified twelve psychovampire types: these are characterized in the first part of the book and presented in the form of true stories. Common to all encounters with vampire people is the imbalance between what we invest in energy and what we get in return. For some, the psychovampire is the boss, the project manager, the ex-partner, the team colleague, while for others it's the parents, husband, or friends. In each of the cases described, the psychological mechanism at the heart of the meeting with the respective vampire type is discussed in detail.