Actual 'vampire' found in Turkey

ISTANBUL

Hürriyet photo

The Journal of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics claims to have found a real-life vampire in Turkey: a 23-year-old man with an addiction to drinking blood. The man's name was not revealed by the medical journal, but the study documents how the man's compulsion progressed from drinking his own blood to stabbing and biting others and even recruiting his father to bring him goodies from the local blood bank. Doctors diagnosed the man with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), brought on by witnessing a variety of violent acts throughout his life. They also diagnosed him with multiple personalities.

The man was arrested several times after stabbing and biting others to collect and drink their blood.

The doctors said they found traumatic events in the man's life leading up to his two-year bloodsucking phase. His 4-month-old daughter became ill and died; he witnessed the murder of his uncle; and he saw another violent killing in which "one of his friends cut off the victim's head and penis," according to the journal.

The man had been seen talking to himself, and he claimed to be tormented by an "imaginary companion" who forced him to carry out violent acts and attempt suicide. He also had memory gaps in his daily life and reported instances of being in a new place without any idea of how he got there.

"Possibly due to 'switching' to another personality state, he was losing track during the 'bloody' events, did not care who the victim was anymore, and remained amnesic to this part of his act," the report said.

The doctors, led by Direnc Sakarya of Denizli Military Hospital in southwestern Turkey, ultimately diagnosed the man with DID, PTSD, chronic depression and alcohol abuse. To their knowledge, the man is the first patient with "vampirism" and DID.