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What complexes, or mental conditions could vampires be imagined to suffer?

In what way would this be possible (with your accepted vampire type)?

Would a Psi Vamp, be likely to "catch a mental disorder" from a donor? How?

I feel maybe not catch it but feel it for the time being

Could be skitzo... After being around for so long and needing to "live" different lives in order to keep from being found out, could be possible.... It happens to normal people.. why not vamps too?

Maybe the vampire had mental health problems before he was turned.

I think your mental state depends on how you control your mind and emotions unless it's something that hits you all the sudden like how a panic attack does then it is very hard to control because the slightest noise can trigger you...

Good point mystic wind..here is a view at psychosis.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychosis

Could it be imagined or reasoned, that if a vampire is sired, and then left to defend for themselves, as opposed to being initiated and "brought up" by other vampires, that that would make a difference?

I feel being around forever and see so much death and change could cause anyone to become mentally unstable

as for not being raised by other vamps I think would also take a toll on one. I feel they need the guidance and nurturing of other as they are to help with the whole transition.

Catch a mental disorder???

I think not. Seriously.

What do you think goth is? a transmitted disease of some kind? idk

To be a psi-vamp or christian. it is apart of who they are, not if your going to catch some thing......like the flu...

well that is true I mean a mental disorder is not transmittable LOL

Emotionally Balanced: A donor should be emotionally healthy. This does not mean that their life should be problem free or that they should be the happy go lucky types. They should however be able to deal with their problems in a healthy way. Someone who is mentally ill may not have the tools they need to be a successful, healthy donor. Moreover, depending on the type of illness, they may not even be in any real position to make sound and healthy decisions for themselves.

An emotionally unstable person can be very draining on energy and time, and may cause problems if you decide to end the vamp-donor relationship or not spend every waking spare moment with them, etc. A whole lot of problems could arise – too many to list. Just keep in mind that an emotionally unstable person generally demands a huge amount of attention that is often above and beyond what most can give or are willing to give. Unstable people probably aren’t equipped to deal with being a donor on an emotional level either. In fact, donating could even cause these individuals emotional harm.

Reference and more info: Choosing and Working With Donors

I think the word psychotic would be attributed to vampires, sociopathic personality would be another. Since they are fictional characters the DSM-IV would be needed to look up whatever vampire behavior is indicated by the description of psych symptoms exibited by the character.

I don't belive that vampires would be able to catch a mental disorder from a donor, who they are feeding from. I think the only way for them to have a mental disorder from before they were turned.

Makes me think of the conclusion I drew on last year. Almost the same subject matter.

Since the empathic ability of the vampire is by nature, the feeling of anothers mental state, or so it would appear since the emotions are a part of that mental state, then the focal point would be considered a sort of hereditary trait from subject to persuer. Thus the empathic mind set that the so called "schitzo" or psychopath could be transfered to the persuer or the empath this is feeling the emotions, or mental awareness of the subject themselves.

Though the previous paragraph could not be proven likely, since there is really no way to tell what either subhect or persuer were feeling mentally or emotionally at the time of the empathic awareness. That is unless they were under observation.

Good question … slightly loaded but what the hell lol

Personally I don’t know… iv had a succession of insane women in my life.
I say insane as they have attempted grievous harm poisoning and stabbed a couple of times… the last one is diagnosed as bipolar…. All love me… dead maybe but still have a burning desire.lol
So I think energy feeders have a effect after a while of causing insanity … unless I happened to of dated an asylum lol

Guilt.

~Lav~ brings up a good point. Let us say the mental health situation is reversed a bit? What if the vampire causes that mental health state upon the subject, the persuer becomes the invoker.

That is to say, the emotions or mentality from the invoker as the empath (This is where the psi-vamp comes into play.) gives its emotions to the subject instead of harvesting them from the subject?

A valid arguement I should think.

The Mental state before they where turned, I find that to be a well thought out post. Soul Shroud you mentioned a simular thread on this subject.. I was unable to find it in my pre-posting search, I would be interested in reading a related thread.

I would imagine delusions of grandure would likely appear in a solo, vampire, as there are no other vampires they interact with, to "keep them in check".

I think it could be that maybe the vampire had a mental disorder before hand. But I also think that maybe it possible that they go kinda psycho after the fact.

I dunno if anyone said this, but a vampire could be a complete and total sociopath. They could avoid people like the plague. OR, they could have that one phobia where they are afraid to go outside and have to lure people into their homes! Teehee!

Alternatively could it be that those who identify themselves as vampires also exhibit delusions of grandeur?

Having worked with individuals diagnosed with Schizophrenia, I came across a few who were convinced that they were God. In fact they were so convincing, I had momentary lapses when I almost believed them myself ;P

i am unsure of the answer.... although, i think that when they are sick they feed to be healed... is this correct?

good one thexredxvampire, I contracted the goth transmittable disease at birth from my mother. It mutated itself with my blood so I am undetectable by mortals. I am like Ultraviolet....UltraViolentViolet, LOL.

Well I would think that they would be vulnerable to all mental disorders that humans are. They would be most likely, in my opinion, to suffer from megalomania and narcissism. Just because of the power they would have in comparison to normal people.

Vampires are most likely suffering for the following:

Depression: from watching everything change except themselves, and being forced to live in the shadows.

and

Delusions of Grandure: from being able to do things humans can't and doing it for a very long time.

I'm not sure if Psy-Vamps would suffer from any mental problems, unless they can actually create a Psychic link with their victims during feeding.

Being a psi-vamp there are repercussions when dealing with those who are mentally ill. I had the unfortunate situation of living with a person with chronic depression so the empathic part of me suffered tremendously. Also I would unwillingly feed off their bad emotional energy and it would drag me down into the depths of despair. It got so bad I had to move for fear of harming someone or myself.

For a psi-vamp to live with someone who is emotionally unstable it can be very dangerous to them in the long run. We have the ability to amplify emotions within ourselves that we receive from others.

"Catch a mental disorder" - since when were mental illnesses contageous?

The definition of a psychopath would be a person with an antisocial personality disorder, manifested in aggressive, perverted, criminal, or amoral behavior without empathy or remorse. So i'd say most vampires of the fantasy kind would fit nicely into this category!

Lol, i think Vampires would be just as subjected to Mental illness just as much as human's are.

I won't say much in here because I think people have said it all. Mental health and vampires do go hand in hand for many cases.

ImmortalMistress: As a point of fact (mostly because I'm a nerd) you can "catch" a mental illness, in a way. Certain viruses and other infections can cause someone to become permanently mentally ill. Just a bit of useless knowledge :)

HellHath makes a good point as a vampire lacks feeding he becomes more Edgy, Immortal I put the catch a mental illness, in "" ""'s,

Kevil Makes a good point as well.

i dont know to be honest.

Im a psy vamp but i have never caught anything from any of my hosts

i do believe people can catch depression though, because although he is in denial, my bf underwent a psychic attack and was drained of his happiness.

one cannot catch a mental disorder yet it can be hereditary. and depression can also be from around very depressed people LOL yet I do not feel one could *CATCH *it

We are all connected by an energy, psy feeders tap into that void. The misconception in my view is peoples perception of what energy feeding is.
As I understand there are three types.
Some may have damaging effects on people and others sure don’t.

Anything concerning supernatural is likely to be imaginable, so the term"catch a mental illness" is pseudo -science possible. Malkavians are called Crazy in the White Wolf Games, If a vampire had mentally stable donors, then they would be able to feed more often, and with little disturbance of the donor, if a vampire has to spend all their time, dealing with the emotional mood swings of donors, and the lingering threat, that a donor is likely to act out to the vampire, perhaps even exposing the lair of the vampire, or the vampire themselves, then their is the strain on the bond.. Bonding with a donor, or siring a vampire is interjecting I could image some serious vibes.

Then there is also that chance that the newly turned vampire will suffer Post tramatic stress disorder, or was that mentioned already?

Xzavier I am interested in knowing exactly what viruses and infections can cause someone to become permanently mentally ill. Can you enlighten us on that statement?

but it would be cool

thats a good question..well i think if a psi fed off of energy that was negative they could have a short term disability in the mind

I work in Mental Health and being empathic I find myself very susceptible to the emotions and moods of the 'clients' that come into work. If someone is extremely agitated/depressed/manic I find I have to do a personal cleansing after dealing with them, I tend to take other peoples emotions onto my own shoulders and it is very draining - especially working in the environment that I do.

Its actually quite odd but sometimes I find myself mirroring the moods of the people I come into contact with. I am especially prone to the emotions of one particular woman who can swing from elation/mania to suicidal in a heartbeat when she is unwell. All it takes is a phone call from her and my emotions go haywire. I get on really well with her (purely professionally of course) and think maybe there has been a past connection there.

I'm not going to claim to be any type of psychology expert or anything like that, however I'm going to run off the basis that the vampiric mind is, esentially, wired the same as the human mind, perhaps with a few exceptions here and there.

Mental disorders can stem from anything ranging between genetics, environment, drug abuse...things that affect the way you think and the way your brain works.

If humans cannot "catch" mental disorders from other people, i.e. my friends do not have chronic depression even though they come in contact with me, then it is logical to infer that vampires cannot "catch" them either.

As far as psi vamps being susceptible to them, I do not personally know any psis very well nor do I claim to be one, so I have no opinion on that matter. But in general, I do not believe it is possible to transfer a chemical imbalance of the brain to another person or vampire.

i believe mental disorders is some thing you are born with.
how ever some things can and will trigger it.
so for a vampire to have mental disorder he or she had to of had it before he or she was turned.but being turned can trigger the mental disorder to be worse.

The answer is simple. A vampire can suffer any mental disorders a human can.

Depression.
Multiple personalities.
Skitzo.

Minds are all able to fall to these and more.

I'd say, very anti-social

I think the question of getting a mental disorder through a doner is proposterous.

I agree, if a vampire was to have a mental disorder I would say it had it before hand.

Given that mental disorders are not linked to the blood, and that they are NOT illnesses, I highly doubt that a vampire would contract any particular disorder merely from biting someone.

Now a blood-borne virus or bacteria, I could believe that to be much more likely to be contracted and suffered from, given the vampire in question's ability to fend off said illnesses.

Lav- That would depend on the religion hehe But in general most people have a mental illness, religious or otherwise.

I guess no one read where I said you CAN "catch" (in a way) a mental illness, oh well.

Ohh yes indeed bacteria and virus can ,and do cause mental illnesses...Syphillis being only one example.
And if a Vamp sucks on some syphillis infected peep? Ill let you decide..

Shoot,posted before I was finished...but OCD and Anorexia has been associated with high levels of strep antibodies,and Chlamydia,Alzheimer's disease.AIDS causes mental disorders too.There is a slew of them.So Zav,you are dead on my friend when you contemplate that idea.

Not to even mention parasites..

Juat saw something posted here Id like to touch on..RK..Yes,Mental illness has been linked to several blood disorders..an example of this is Phenylalanine .A build up of this in the blood cause menatal retardation etc...

. , , . .... : , .... .

Vampires whether legendary or living are subject to the same possibility as anyone else of having a mental disorder. A legendary vampire in most cases was human therefore has a human mind. A living vampire is still a human and therefore has a human mind. I chose the term legendary over fictional since a fictional vampire can be anything the author chooses or envisions. Almost anyone can "catch" a mental illness if they spend enough time around another person that has one. Just like with anything else some are more resistant to some things than others. When two people spend a lot of time together they tend to start behaving similarly, although in some cases it may have a reciprocating effect but there is still an effect. If you doubt this go to the different regions of the U.S. and observe modes of dress and speech. Alcoholism is a pretty good example also as the spouses of alcoholics tend to be either alcoholics themselves or codependent. Alcoholism is not a perfect example as it is both a physical and psychological disorder. Anyone can be "driven" insane under the right conditions. Lock a sane person up in an insane asylum and they would likely go insane themselves and could be said to have "caught" it from the other patients.

If you doubt that blood born pathogens can cause mental disorders just take a close look at adolph hitler a perfect example of someone driven insane by syphilis. There are other diseases that can cause mental disorders that only require skin to skin contact.

Exactly Wolvie..the examples I posted are only a small part of it.And with the PETS and other diagnostic tests available now,it has been proven to be the case in quite a few disorders.

i agree, but can vampires get diseases in the first place??

Hahah nice call! I guess it all depends on what they truely are.;)

Vampires of myth and legend were believed to be immune to disease, which is why they were supposed to be immune to lycanthropy. Some still exhibited behavior consistent with mental illness. More correctly the legends were built around people with disorders either physical and or mental and a lack of understanding to what happens during the decay of a corpse. Again fictional vampires are subject to the authors whims. Living vampires ARE HUMAN and are subject to everything any other human is. When it comes right down to it ALL humans could be considered vampires. Everyones first "meal" is human blood in the womb and is absolutely dependent on it. We spend the rest of our lives living off of energy from other living things whether plants or animals.

Can a Psy Vamp drain off of another Psy Vamp for the energy to heal?

for all the times that I fed on others it has come to my attentions that there is no way that you can contract a mental heath problem through what the humans call "feeding" how ever if you were born human then turned it would be possible to transfer the problem that you had when you were human

LotusAssassin44- Since you can feel peoples emotional pain do you think it would be possible, even if just for a time, for you (or someone else) to become depressed or suffer from an emotional illness?

the fear of light could be one

yes the fear of light, and maybe the fear of a cross

Wolvie very well stated. The variation between fictious, and legend is a real good thing to include.

If I was in a plot to weaken a vampire, say in a book.. then I would start by effecting their food supply, rotating unhealthy donors. This would require much more upkeep then healthy donors, as well as keep the vampire on his toes.

From what I can tell a lot of people here think all mental illnesses are virus or bacteria related.

This isn't true.

Some people are born with mental illnesses or develope them over time.


Depression isn't caused by a virus.

Multiple personalities isn't either.

Nor are many others.

He might have had them before he/she was turned or got them afterward from others driving him nuts.. I mean after all vampires live a long long time.. Got many years to go nuts.

I would expect schizophrenia, Post-Traumatic Stress, and other bipolar disorders to control a vampire's lifestyle. Schizophrenia from the seclusion, PTSD from the initial bite and other countless events throughout history, and then bipolar disorders from degrading neural tissue.

I don't think that a Psi vampire could contract anything through the extortion of simply energy.

I would like to think that they could suffer from any mental illness as humans can.

Insanity or depression, would be a few I think they'd be most likely to get.

Distortion- You're right most mental illnesses are a product of genetics. However, since you mentioned depression, they can be caused by microbial infections. The Epstein-Barr virus comes to mind for depression.

seeing you can not catch a mental disorder i think they may feel it and may not feel like themselfs for a short period of time but as for having it permently not likely at all unless they let it

You know something Zav? It is being discovered that many more mental illnesses are caused by microbial infection than thought previously..to add to the examples above,Lyme disease can trigger a whole slew of psychiatric symptoms, including depression.
Then we have the lovely Toxoplasma gondii. A nasty little parasite found in undercooked meat and cat feces. Toxoplasma can lead to full blown psychotic episodes.
It has gotten to the point where geneticists believe that diseases may trigger the onset of inherited mental illnesses by activating key genes.
What interesting about this, is that Psychiatric illnesses make up more than 10 percent of the world's "disease burden, and are expected to increase to 15 percent by 2020. It is speculated that much of that is the work of viruses, bacteria and parasites.

Pneumonia, urinary tract infection, sepsis, malaria, Legionnaire's disease, syphilis, typhoid, diphtheria, HIV, rheumatic fever and herpes...just these are just a few that are already proven to cause chronic mental illness..so yes,one can "catch" a menatl illness.If one understands,even remotely how infection affects us, and how the body works,it is not at all difficult to see how infectioins and parasites can cause mental illnesses.

So if a Vamp were to drink infected blood,then yes,he might very well come down with it too.
As far as the energy thing..unless I find something that will change my mind,I dont think one can catch an illness by taking energy from a peep.. however,it certainly isnt something I would discount completely.

In my opinion, no complexes. My type of vampire is serious, a predator, ever growing, adaptive, a professional. A psi-vampire amateur might catch some negative disfunctional energies during feeding, but that is only because he is a beginner, not experienced, or a complete idiot, so he would feed of its victims karma, instead of their energy only. Other than that, no, a vampire feeds on energy only, not those which might negatively influence and pollute its system.

i agree with alexayron

That is a very interesting question about PSY Vamps.May be if they have been exposed to much to the mental illness

I usually go to this site to seek information about our kind. It has helped me extremely and is full of information. This is a link to a dictionary of sorts, that will have almost every deffinition you may need to understand us better.

http://www.house-eclipse.org/dictionary/a.shtml

thanks XTC

Xzavier - I just used those as a general example.


Some people have said that ALL mental illnesses are caused by bacteria when in fact not as many are.

a vampire can suffer many health problems I would think

mental desisease is just that mental i doubt if it is in the blood line always watch what you eat

Im wondering if mental illness might play more of a role than we think...seems to be quite a bit of it amoung those who claim to be vampires.

Oceanne- Given the wording of the thread I would say that we're (supposed to be) talking about the fictional vampire.

Of course I agree with you totally. There does seem to be a disproportionate number of people claiming to be a vampire (psi/sang) or werewolf who suffer from any number of mental illnesses. This I think should be the real area of discussion...perhaps at a later time.

Lets do that then.:) ..but I have a hard time talking about the fictional,as there isnt much more to say about them.There is really no challenge .I dont know about you Zav,but I have no interest whatsoever in the fictional Vampire other than tidbits that might offer insight as to what they really might be.

I think to imagine a vampire is challenging, as they have been redrafted plenty. I find "real vampires" alter their concept to fit updated scrutiny. I think it would be a good idea to address the other possible thread as well.

So I have not heard yet, and I was disappointed, that vampires fictional and other, are strong on instinct, if the soul of a vampire is damned, and all that remains is instinct, then they are no more subject to mental illness then a dog, of other animal. Unless those things are pressing to their "livelihood'. Then they may have environmental reactions that could only be interpited as mental illness.

Good pont Dab.So then to hear of one speak of love,would be rediculous too.By the same token.

Not nesscerily, see if acting a role to feed is instinct then the image of love would be a lure..

Exactly..a lure,not true feelings.

So mental illiness can be simulated to avoid detection, or to deflect exposer.

i don't think catch is a good word.
maybe experience one..
time to time...

Dont see why it couldnt be..but all in all,if a Vamp is as they say,then there could actually be a few mental illnesses that could pop up.I mean, a dead brain would be pretty dysfunctional.

Not feeding will likely make a vampire manic.

Viscious and depressed too.

Feed and Not Feed.. As far as the difference between those that claim to be vampires, and those that are accept vampires as fiction, this thread is fiction based. I would like to see one started by those that Claim to be vampire.

Hmm ,and here I was the whole time thinking along the line of real Vampire.

I think really Vamps would be able to find love

Let's suppose there are real vampire's.... they are supposed to have a high immune system to avoid any sickness. At least that is what the movies propose to us. But, a real life vampire walking the streets today could be able to have mental problems as well as any other problem. I am sure they go through mental problems with worrying about their feedings & such. They would also have concerns just like a normal person.

I agree..sure seems as though a mental illness could even be compounded.Obtaining blood ,social stigma and all that goes with it.

Distortion, no one said ALL mental illness was caused by bacteria. That is only 1 of many possibly infinite causes of mental illness.

This thread has been automatically closed for length.