According to a new study, individuals who think about themselves as vampires don't go to see health care providers since they are afraid of stigma, mockery or a diagnosis of a mental illness. The study has been published in the journal Critical Social Work in Canada.

DJ Williams, Idaho State University associate professor of social work said that this is an age of technology, so people are able to choose new, alternate identities to fit the understanding of what they are in a better way.

According to Williams, "We really need to understand some of these new identities and new ways to identify ourselves, and some of these new identities do not fit into stereotypes. Helping professionals of all varieties need more education on these kinds of topics".

Williams, also lead author of the study found that "real-life vampires" continue their practices of sleeping in a coffin during hours of daylight, having human blood and sleepless nights.

It has been revealed in the study that "lifestyle" vampires and "authentic" vampires are different from each other. "Lifestyle" vampires make use of fake fangs, whereas "authentic" vampires are reported to have cravings for blood.

On the other hand, the "authentic" vampires are worried that they could be stereotyped for the reason that the medical field doesn't accept biases.

Williams has looked at the social phenomenon for approximately ten years. He said that generally, self-identified vampires are just like other normal people and some of them are even successful like lawyers or doctors.