Monday, February 11, 2013 Turkish Vampire Kicks the Habit

At least, that's what the article claims.  It may still be a trick.  From Today's Zaman:

Turkish ‘vampire' gives up blood drinking, biting others

11 February 2013
TODAY'S ZAMAN, İSTANBUL

A Turkish doctor who documented a 23-year-old man who showed signs of clinical vampirism in an article for the world-renowned Journal of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics in 2011 says his patient has recovered following two years of treatment.

The Turkish patient's name was not revealed by the medical journal, but the study documents showed how the man's compulsion progressed from drinking his own blood to stabbing and biting others and even recruiting his father to bring him blood from the local blood banks.

Turkish 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. Doctors also diagnosed him with having multiple personalities.

The young man was arrested several times after stabbing and biting others to drink their blood. The doctors said they uncovered traumatic events in the man's life leading up to his two-year bloodsucking phase. His four-month-old daughter fell ill and died. Then he witnessed the murder of his uncle. He also 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 for a long time 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.

In remarks to the Anatolia news agency, psychiatrist Direnç Sakarya said the patient began to take part in social life after he recovered. “The drinking of blood was not an addiction for the patient but a result of a psychiatric disorder,” he said.

Given the patient's experiences I don't blame him for going a bit crazy.  I mean, I've seen my friends do some pretty weird things, but beheading and castrating a guy goes way beyond any of their antics.  (So far.)