by Dr Deborah Lee, Dr Fox Online Pharmacy
Did you know that real-life vampires actually exist? This was news to me until I did some research – and what I found was shocking. Read on and find out.
What is Renfield’s syndrome?
Clinical Vampire Syndrome is also called Renfield’s syndrome. It is regarded as a psychiatric diagnosis, named after Renfield, Count Dracula’s assistant with a passion for eating insects. The affected person has an overwhelming desire to drink blood. Although the diagnosis has not formally reached the medical textbooks, it is thought to be a form of schizophrenia. Schizophrenics may have delusions – unshakeable beliefs – that they are Count Dracula, or a real-life vampire. Since the late 1800s, over 50,000 cases of Renfield’s syndrome have been reported around the world.
How does it start?
The condition is thought to originate childhood, after some sort of accident or incident involving an injury involving blood, in which the exposure to blood was somehow exciting. It starts by enjoying sucking or drinking one’s own blood, progresses to a lust for animal blood, and then intensifies into a desire to drink the blood of other human beings. The word haematomania means an overwhelming desire for blood.
What happens next?
Sufferers cut themselves to drink their own blood – known as autovampirism. After a while, they start eating live animals – called zoophagia. They may become sexually aroused at the sight or taste of blood when it is a form of sadism. The final step occurs when they start murdering human beings and committing other horrific crimes to feed their habit – this is true clinical vampirism.
Who gets it?
Renfield’s syndrome has been described in association with other psychiatric conditions such as antisocial personality disorder, post traumatic stress disorder, paraphilias, dissociative identity disorder, and psychopathy.
Risks of drinking blood
Drinking animal or human blood is not recommended. Blood carries a range of bacteria and viruses and there is a high risk of infection, for example with hepatitis B, C and HIV infection.
Drinking blood also comes with the risk of iron overload. Ingesting too much iron is dangerous as your body cannot excrete it, and the excess iron is deposited in organs such as the liver, heart, and liver. It can cause liver failure, heart failure, and a deterioration in the function of the central nervous system. It can also cause diabetes.
Trick or treat?
Clinical vampire syndrome is extremely rare – but it does exist. Take care, this Halloween!
Do you know any real live vampires?