Turkish teenager unprecedent case with vampire behavior

ISTANBUL

A 19-year-old Turkish teenager with vampire-like behavior has presented an unprecedented story which has prompted psychiatrists to add his case to medical literature.

When the young man, whose name cannot be disclosed, complained of drinking blood, having trouble trusting people, and avoiding crowds in order not to harm anyone, his family took him to two psychiatrists, İlknur Kiraz Avcı and Çiçek Hocaoğlu.

In interviews with the psychiatrists, the teenager recalled a time when he tasted the blood of a friend whose leg was bleeding when he was 13.

He reportedly also managed to get a few tubes of blood for himself at a hospital where he was an intern.

“From the outside, I look like a calm person. But in fact, I am nervous although I do not reveal my feelings. My emotions change quickly. I have two different people inside me: Good and bad. The first is calm and helpful, the other is angry, harmful and offensive,” he reportedly said about himself.

Avcı and Hocaoğlu diagnosed the young man with paranoia, borderline personality disorder, antisocial and dissociative personality traits in their psychiatric evaluation.

Experts also pointed out that medication was prescribed for personality and behavioral problems. His interviews were continued weekly for three months, and that there was no blood drinking behavior in the last month while he was on his treatment, and his impulsivity decreased.

The teenager had a childhood filled with frequent illnesses and said that his mother was mostly indifferent and his father negligent.

“If my brother took care of me instead of my sister, I wouldn’t be here now,” he reportedly said during the interviews, adding that he had no close friends in elementary school and that his friends were afraid of him.