You’ve probably heard of the term “attention economy”; how there is a silent war going on in our world bidding for your attention like a currency.
It presents in a multitude of ways and settings: emails and notifications, marketing, media and ad campaigns, imposed day-to-day interactions, codependent connections, emotionally-charged situations or exchanges… It is ubiquitous.
Perhaps it’s the coworker who always has a crisis, or the friend who only calls to vent, or the stranger on the train staring you down.
Two common modern examples of psychic bandwidth theft include phishing cyberattacks and public gaze parasitism, or energetic loitering.
Phishing attempts have been on the rise in recent months. They have two purposes: the obvious money extortion scheme, and a second hidden purpose if and when the target does not fall for the blackmail—emotional leeching.
While most of us have discernment when it comes to the content of these scripts, there is the hidden agenda of harvesting the initial emotional jolt, or fear-based reaction, out of you simply noticing the threat. “What if it’s real?” “What am I going to do?” “What if it ruins my reputation?”
They don’t necessarily need your full conviction; it can work off your imagination. Those thoughts carry some strong emotions, like fright, hopelessness, humiliation, and shame. That Qi, that emotional currency, no matter its polarity, is sustenance when sent to the attacker.
These bad actors are energy vampires. They feed off attention, fear, confusion, and discomfort. They create situations where people around them leak energy. It doesn’t always require talking or touching; it’s more about presence and intent (i.e., willingly giving it attention, often out of lack of self-awareness or situational awareness).
Another quiet, more mundane example of psychic hovering or squatting has happened at least once to all of us: predatory stillness behavior, especially while commuting.
Lately I’ve been seeing TikToks of girls filming men staring at them on trains. The girls look frozen or trapped, and you get that tight feeling just watching the clip. Some of them say how awful it felt after, and the comments back them up: same thing happened to me, I hated it, etc.
Here’s the thing. Filming these men might feel like power. Like documenting. Like doing something. And if there’s a real threat? Yes, of course, record it. But a man silently staring isn’t always danger in the classic sense. Oftentimes it’s more of a low-grade, ambient invasion. No weapon. No words. No movement. Just… watching.
But that watching? That’s a kind of feeding. You feel tired after they’ve left. You feel weird while they’re near. That’s the suck.
They don’t need to say anything. Their presence alone creates a tension field. And that tension? That’s food. When you film them—when you post about them—when you spiral in your mind about them—you’re giving them exactly what they want.
Even if they don’t know you’re filming. Even if they never see the post. The exchange happened already. The energy was given. Fear, anger, anxiety—all of that is juice. You just handed it over.
And now others are watching your video and getting drained too. The spread multiplies. They feed from a distance. And it never ends.
So how can you protect yourself?
Don’t engage. Don’t film. Don’t react. Don’t even lock eyes. That moment of eye contact? That’s the handshake. Ideally, wear sunglasses everywhere you go—it helps deflect attempts.
Break the circuit. Get off the train. Move to another car. Tell a conductor. Phone a friend. Shift the energy. Do anything but sit there marinating in it.
Trust your gut, not your panic. If there’s a real threat, your body will tell you. But if it’s just a slow drain—that static, sick feeling—you don’t need to fight. You need to cut the tether, possibly by imagining cutting a cord linking you to them.
Don’t amplify. Don’t post it. Don’t relive it. Don’t spread the fear. That turns you into a conduit, and not everything that creeps you out deserves a platform. Stop the current and seal the leak—for your and other people’s sake.
So take care of your energy like you take care of your money, your body, your safety. Don’t give it away just because someone’s staring.
Practice good psychic hygiene: don’t feed what’s trying to feed on you.
