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Glamorized. (Photo by Alexandra Beier/Getty

Images)

 Yes, real-life vampires, werewolves and zombies DO exist!

 A psychiatrist's face-to-face encounter with the 'undead'

By Dr. Randy Dellosa, Your Online Shrink  | Yahoo SHE – 23 hours ago

 Vampires, werewolves, and zombies are known to be mythical characters and most people get to see them only on two

occasions: in the movies or in costume parties on Halloween.

Psychiatrists like me however get the real deal—a face-to-face encounter with these “creatures” in the clinic.

 Yes, true-to-life vampires, werewolves, and zombies do exist and they actually consult psychiatrists!

 What is clinical vampirism?

Real life vampires are people with the psychiatric condition known as

Renfield’s syndrome or clinical vampirism.

Renfield’s syndrome refers to the obsessive desire to taste or drink blood.

Some people with Renfield’s syndrome believe that they strengthen their “life

force” by consuming blood.

Self-cutters drink their own blood

The few vampires I’ve met are adolescent or young adult “self-cutters” who lap

up their own blood after cutting themselves.

For some of these vampires, the act of lapping up or drinking blood is done with

an intimate partner and is associated with sexual arousal.

In extreme cases, real life vampires are known to level up in their vampiric

activities.

Glamorizing vampirism

From self-cutting, they advance to more complicated acts such as acquiring

 blood from butchers and blood banks, engaging in vampiric rituals or committing hideous crimes which involve the

murder of animals and even human beings for their blood.

Some psychologists, in fact, have raised serious concern on how modern vampire movies glamorize vampirism and thus

influence adolescents to join dangerous “vampire cults.”

Real-life werewolves

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People who think they're werewolves often suffer from schizophrenia.

Real life werewolves are people afflicted with the psychiatric disorder known as clinical lycanthropy.

“Lycanthrope” is the Greek word for “wolf-man” and lycanthropy refers to the delusional belief that one has become a wolf 

or can transform into a wolf.

Real life werewolves expectedly behave as wolves do and commonly howl at the moon, particularly when it is full. A popular

example of a person with clinical lycanthropy is King Nebuchadnezzar of the Bible who lost his mind and lived in the wilds,

 behaving like an animal.

Lycanthropy is usually a manifestation of schizophrenia.

The ‘walking corpse’ syndrome

Real-life zombies believe they've lost their internal organs.

 As for real life zombies, they are people who suffer from Cotard’s syndrome or the walking corpse syndrome.

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People with Cotard’s syndrome have the delusional belief that they are already dead, or decaying or have lost their internal

organs.

One real-life zombie patient of mine, for instance, had the belief that he didn’t have any organs inside him and therefore

had a hollow body.

Cotard’s syndrome may be caused by schizophrenia, neurological disorders and, surprisingly, the antiviral medication

called Acyclovir.

Compassion for the living ‘undead’

In the movies or on TV, vampires, werewolves, or zombies are mercilessly annihilated through silver bullets, stakes driven

through their heart or through exhumation.

Clinical vampires, werewolves and zombies, on the other hand, are real-life human beings who need compassionate

understanding and psychiatric treatment in the forms of medication and psychotherapy.

 Dr. Randy Dellosa, popularly known as the "celebrity shrink," is a life coach, counselor, psychotherapist, clinical 

 psychologist, psychiatrist, physician, osteopath, clinical massage therapist, acupuncturist, qigong teacher and energy

healer. To contact Doc Randy, visit his blog.