Delusions of Vampirism in an Adolescent and Treatment With Clozapine: A Case Report

This case describes delusions of vampirism among several other psychotic symptoms in a 15-year-old who has a diagnosis of schizophrenia, with these delusions first presenting when he was 13 years of age. Delusions of vampirism can be associated with a strong desire to suck human blood but these delusional beliefs were not acted upon here. This is the first report of delusions of vampirism in childhood to date. The introduction of the antipsychotic medication clozapine after failed treatment trials with two other antipsychotic agents has been associated with a significant amelioration in symptomatology and an improvement in functioning.

Kynanthropic and vampirism delusions: a case report and review of the literature

Zooanthropy (delusional beliefs of turning into an animal) is a rare but well recognised psychiatric phenomenon. This case describes the presence of kynanthropic delusions (delusional beliefs of turning into a dog). Multiple other psychotic symptoms were also evident including unusually the additional presence of delusions of vampirism. Delusional beliefs in this case were associated with behavioural changes including growling and barking, and less commonly an expressed craving for biting people's necks to suck human blood. Symptom intensity was associated with increased psychosocial stressors for this patient, with some benefit noted from very high doses of anti-psychotic medications. Brief admissions to the acute psychiatric inpatient unit and thus removal from environmental stressors has been associated with an amelioration in symptomatology.