Are there people in your life that leave you feeling drained, depleted, and just exhausted? Twenty minutes with these people and you feel as if you’ve just run a marathon. They demand limitless time, emotional support, attention, or affirmation; you dread interacting with them but don’t know how to change the dynamic.

You’ve just encountered a real-life vampire. Dracula has nothing on these ubiquitous social villains who take—time, energy, attention, emotional capacity— without reciprocating, and leave you too exhausted to protest. Energy vampires can be people, situations, or even your own mindset, but in Surrounded by Energy Vampires, internationally best-selling author Thomas Erikson identifies the different types of energy vampires and offers practical tools, fun self-assessments, and relatable stories to help you combat them.