when you have a parent living withyou that is old i'am sure they would like to be young and independant again, remember this you too will one day be old darn sure hope you will not be in their shoes. also there is help out there to help you with your parent. don't do to them what you yourself would not want done to you. we all will someday be old and you dddo not know how your life will be. so sad that a person after their parents raised them and loved them can speak so callus about them ( parents)

I read these postsbut i'am in shock. how can you trowh a family out in the cold when they have no place to live? complaining about your mother? unheard i know this love your family you just may need them one day.

Kathleen...I have the same situation! My mother and older sister are both sucking all my life out of me. My sister is a clone of my mother repeating her behavior just like my mother without even being aware that their may be another side of the situation. My mother has sucked all her independence leaving my sister with no opinion or reality..so sad I can't wake her up after 45 yrs of trying. So I just have a family of friends and realize I can't change them...I just listen and laugh at how sad they are...I have cried all the tears I can and choose to go on...their loss!

maxiesmom067 Why would you tell me that I am the Vampire who dumped my toxic friend of 32 years with nothing but excuses when you did the same thing for almost the same reasons! You took advice from a therapist and according to this comment it was the right thing to do for your own sake. Or maybe I'm the vampire because I finally took a stand with my parents, who are very toxic. You need to be careful with your quick so called witty comments. I took this to heart until I read all your comments on most every topic AOL has. Now I know you just like to start trouble!

To those who ask "what's wrong with helping"-
The problem is when it becomes a regular thing. Yes- helping friends and family is great and I love helping out my loved ones any way I can and any chance I get... but after so many years of it, it really drags a person down. When you already know why someone calls before you even pick up the phone... that's pretty sad. A friend/ family member of mine has all these characteristics. She's also on meds for depression, bipolar, etc so you can imagine the emotional drain. I'm still here for her but have only just recently been able to decline sending financial help her way. She's 45ish with her own family and I have my own to take care of. I love her... but one can only do so much.

Like I commented on someone else's post about family- You have to remember that you are still your #1 priority.

am 53 years old, divorced and living alone. My ex brain washed our 2
children so that when he filed for divorce they would take his side.
Now 8 years later my son has repented and apologized but my daughter
just says "mom quit playing the victim, I need money for my wedding"
My dad has nothing to do with his 2 daughters until he needs
something. My mom is old and week so she has changed her plan from
bulling me and breaking my spirit to crying about everything when she
wants to make a point. My best friend of 32 years is in such a pit
because they have lived beyond their means for so long. I can not
handle these people any longer. Some say it's the medicine they are
on so give them some slack, ok so that means I have to deal with them
on drugs. These people have helped me out when in need and I would
love to help them yet it never gets better for them. When I needed
help it was because a change was being made and I needed support to
move on. I finally realized that they will always be in the same bad
shape because they never move on. They never improve themselves. I
thank you all for your comments because now I know I do not need to
carry guilt for their crap never getting solved and for avoiding them
or cutting them out of my life.

I posted twice because within a half hour mine ded not show.

Is almost every article AOL publishes a sales pitch, or pure "BS" ? I am so tired of it, I wonder why I continue to use AOL. "Emotional Vampires" or what ever you want to call them, can cause serious difficulties for others, especially if they are relatives. I would have appreciated some insight about dealing with them, but it turns out, I would have to buy the book to find out .
Enough AOL!!!!!!!!!!!. But, maybe you are just one big advertisement.

... or people who listen to NOTHING anyone says. These people do what they want, even if they are TOLD (not just ASKED) not to do something.

I had the extreme misfortune of having had a "relationship" with a Narcissist . They are not just sitting in front of the mirror gazing at themselves. If that were the case I could have dealt with it. No, these vampires just take and take and take and give back nothing in return. They leave the person involved with them utterly devestated, emotionally and financially. They are the people of the lie as one writer put it. These people have no empathy, and are without a fully working conscience. They take selfishness to a new level, they are self centered to the extreme They take lying to an art form. You can never depend on them for anything. They cheat on thier "partners" as easy as getting a cup of coffee. Narcissists and people with other personality disorders are the worst of the worst human beings on the planet. If you can even call them human as some of the behavior seen in these "people" makes one wonder..... If you are involved with a Narcissist do yourself a favour and get out now, don't walk, run as if your life depended on it because in some situations it does... Seek counseling for the damage that allways comes from being involved with these kinds of abusive people. You cannot change them nor should you try, they appear to have been broken since birth. The best you can do is lick your wounds, get out, seek therapy so you will never be a victom of abuse again and never ever have contact with your abuser again cause they will only continue to abuse you Good Luck to anyone involved with one of these monsters, I know your pain...

I have been in a household where there are emotional vampires. I couldn't wait until I could find a man and get married and out of the house. My mother and my sister would emotionally drain myself and then my poor father. I am 63 now and I still can't be around my sister and when I'm around my mother I have to set limits very sternly so that I can remain emotionally viable. I actually have to run from my sister and her family or they will verbally and emotionally confront me and push buttons to get a response that is beneath me. My father passed away and I blame my mother and my sister for his death. My mother will tell me that he is in a "better" place now and I KNOW that for a fact. It's a touchy situation. I believe in emotional vampires. They can be in your home or in your employment. I find that they are extremely needy people who have a low level of intelligence and NEED people for their existence. It is best to limit your interactions with these people because they take manipulative behaviors to an extreme and will suck your energy and before you know it you are weak and sick. Believe me it's true.