Auto-vampirism is a form of vampirism that refers to drinking one's own

blood Blood is a body fluid in the circulatory system of humans and other vertebrates that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells, and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells. Blood in th ...

, typically as a form of sexual gratification. As a mental disorder, this is also called as autohemophagia, which is derived from three Greek words: ''auto'', which means "self"; ''hemo'', for "blood"; and, ''phag'', meaning "to eat". Although closely related to vampirism, the two differ in that vampirism is a sadistic act while auto-vampirism is on the side of masochism. Along with drinking their own blood, most practitioners of auto-vampirism also engage in

self-harm Self-harm is intentional behavior that is considered harmful to oneself. This is most commonly regarded as direct injury of one's own skin tissues usually without a suicidal intention. Other terms such as cutting, self-injury and self-mutilati ...

in order to obtain the blood.

Background

Auto-vampirism is considered a pathology of vampiristic behavior or "clinical vampirism", which also includes any violent or sexual act done to or in the presence of the body of a dead being, not drinking the blood of a living human. Clinical psychologist

Richard Noll Richard Noll (born 1959 in Detroit, Michigan) is an American clinical psychologist and historian of medicine. He has published on the history of psychiatry, including two critical volumes on the life and work of Carl Gustav Jung, books and article ...

introduced this term and was coined after the mental patient who assisted

Dracula ''Dracula'' is a novel by Bram Stoker, published in 1897. As an epistolary novel, the narrative is related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist, but opens with solicitor Jonathan Harker taki ...

Bram Stoker Abraham Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912) was an Irish author who is celebrated for his 1897 Gothic horror novel ''Dracula''. During his lifetime, he was better known as the personal assistant of actor Sir Henry Irving and busin ...

's novel. Auto-vampirism is typically the first stage of clinical vampirism, or more commonly known as Renfield's Syndrome. It is, however, not recognized in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR 2000).

Development

The habit of drinking ones own blood usually begins during childhood, most commonly as a result of a traumatic event that results in a person linking pleasure with violence and more specifically blood. It develops by first scraping or cutting one's own skin to extract and ingest blood, later resulting in learning where and how to cut and open major

vein Veins are blood vessels in humans and most other animals that carry blood towards the heart. Most veins carry deoxygenated blood from the tissues back to the heart; exceptions are the pulmonary and umbilical veins, both of which carry oxygenate ...

s and

arteries An artery (plural arteries) () is a blood vessel in humans and most animals that takes blood away from the heart to one or more parts of the body (tissues, lungs, brain etc.). Most arteries carry oxygenated blood; the two exceptions are the pul ...

for larger amounts of blood. Sometimes, they will also store their own blood for later consumption or just because they like to look at it. Eventually, auto-vampirism develops into clinical vampirism. According to clinical psychologist Noll, this process includes three stages: autovampirism, zoophagia (the progressive

paraphilic Paraphilia (previously known as sexual perversion and sexual deviation) is the experience of intense sexual arousal to atypical objects, situations, fantasies, behaviors, or individuals. It has also been defined as sexual interest in anything o ...

stage that involves eating of animals or drinking of animals' blood), and clinical or true vampirism. As the child goes through puberty, they begin to link sexuality to the pleasure that is already derived from vampirism. There is also usually a sense that seeing or drinking their blood gives them power or increased health, as in general vampirism. At this point, it is considered fetishistic. There are cases where vampirism and auto-vampirism are one of many symptoms of

schizophrenia Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis. Major symptoms include hallucinations (typically hearing voices), delusions, and disorganized thinking. Other symptoms include social wi ...

. This was illustrated in the case of a 35- year old woman with schizophrenia who experienced severe depersonalization and auditory hallucinations that commanded her to drink her own blood. Auto-vampirism, for her, was part of a delusion about a purification process. Auto-vampirism can cause anemia, abdominal pain, nausea, and more. It's difficult to determine all the consequences of auto-vampirism due to the difficulty of finding people who drink their own blood. It is noted that the pathologies that are associated with vampirism is exceedingly rare.

References

{{paraphilia Paraphilias Self-harm Sexual attraction Sexual fetishism Vampirism

Background

Development

See also

References