Energy Vampires: What or Who is Depleting Your Energy?

Posted on March 27, 2017 Updated on March 27, 2017

Did you know that our brain uses more energy than any other organ in our body? It takes approximately 20% of the body’s energy to keep our brain’s powered. Everyone is different, but most of us can feel emotionally or physically drained from time to time. I know that having children can deplete our energy, because we’re giving and giving and giving of ourselves on a continuous basis.

Time is one resource we can never get back. Involving ourselves with energy vampires can tend to leave us feeling mentally fatigued. Some energy vampires come in the form of technology, as we become literally addicted to plugging into the Internet. Do you feel lost without an adequate Wi-Fi signal? Hey, I know I do. Does anxiety creep in when you haven’t logged into Facebook or Instagram to get your fix of updates? Is social media the only way you stay in-touch with friends or family?

Social media and technology aren’t the only energy-vampire-culprits. People can unknowingly become energy vampires, too. We all have friends that mean well, but maybe there are people in your life who are either too positive or too negative. Ever been around someone who is almost manically happy? No, they’re not bipolar, they’re just constantly happy and bouncy and talkative. Even when things go wrong, they find a silver lining and move on. Great, you think. Until, he/she makes you feel a bit stupid for simply having a challenging day. You feel like, you can’t be yourself around them. So, you never tell them about that day your dog died or your grandmother getting ill or the time you got laid off from work. How can you? When they’re buoyantly chatting about how their healthy grandmother that still runs 5 miles every morning, bought a new puppy for them after her only grandchild received a promotion at work.

If you do dare to have a bad day, they dismiss it with one of their typical positive-guru smiles and throw out a line like, “It’s always much more worse than it truly is.” You’d prefer that they wipe the silly grin off their face and tap into a little something called social intelligence. But, this type of person doesn’t sense social cues very well. And meanwhile, just maybe all you really want is an ear. Someone to listen, nod, give you a hug and just sit with you over coffee. Or perhaps, maybe less boasting, but your perfect friend has a self-centered ego that forces everything to be all about them. Narcissistic? Just a tad.

So, you don’t say anything to your manically, over-the-top happy, friend whose life seems to always go perfectly. He or she is also exceptionally good looking and never gains weight…FYI. You might also have a friend who is just the opposite. This individual is more negative than you are on your worst day, which is saying a lot. By the time you’re done with a lunch meeting with this individual, your “I’m getting by” type of day plummets to “I need a drink or a very sharp object that will cut deep enough beneath several layers of epidermis,” type of day.

Energy vampires can be taking care of an ailing family member be it a child, aging parent, or spouse. It can be your job, such as if you are in the care-giving profession. You can be a doctor, nurse, psychologist, counselor, or work in non-profit and constantly have to give of yourself.

The Bottom Line:

Needless to say, energy vampires can take the shape of anything or anyone. It can be a person or some type of technology. It’s not a matter of cutting people out of our lives or getting rid of technology altogether or quitting your job. It’s more a matter of understanding that some personalities require meetings in smaller doses. The same goes with the amount of time we spend on social media or on the Internet and on our tech gadgets. At the end of the day, what we do to fuel our brain and recharge means everything. In other words, we might try to get enough sleep and exercise, but that can all be for naught if we barely have enough juice left over to fuel the 20% that our brain needs.

We might not have much left for the energy vampires in our life that can suck us dry. So, in my personal opinion, always sensibly choose how to spend your time and who to spend it with. Because if it’s not lifting us up and refueling us, if it’s always taking and not giving back, then it’s not a reciprocal relationship and it’s time to prioritize your valuable time. As it is said, time is the one resource that will never return once gone.