7 Signs of Negative Energy in a Person

Have you ever met someone who just seemed to suck the energy out of a room? You know, that person who makes you feel tired and drained after spending time with them.

It’s not always easy to tell what it is about them that has such an effect on us, is it? But there are certain signs of negative energy in a person which can help us figure this out. Here are 7 of the most common ones!

What is Negative Energy?

Before we can go into the signs, it’s essential that you clearly understand what negative energy is.

Negative energy is negative thoughts that are trapped within a person’s mind, creating negative emotions and negative actions. These negative emotions–which can be of any kind, like fear, anger, jealousy, or even hatred– cause people to behave negatively.

What negative energy does within a person is that it builds up over time until released through negative actions. For instance, if you were to hold your anger inside, it’d build up until you finally lose control and shout at someone.

When someone emits negative energy, they’re essentially draining your energy in one way or another. Some negative energy emitters may be aware of what they’re doing, but others may not. It’s a person’s subtle negative energy that's often more detrimental than their apparent negative behavior.

Most people are exposed to negative energy without even being aware of it. Have you ever gone through a phase in your life where you were constantly experiencing negative emotions? If yes, then you have felt negative energy yourself.

How to Identify Negative Energy in a Person: The Signs

Now that you understand negative energy better, let’s look at how you can identify it. Here are 7 of the most common signs of a negative energy person to watch out for.

1. They Find Fault With Everyone and Everything

Have you ever been around someone quick to judge and pinpoint all of your mistakes? Or perhaps, they constantly complain about things no matter how good they actually are. If the answer is yes, then you’re dealing with a person steeped in negative energy.

Someone who’s emitting a lot of negative energy will find fault in just about everything. Nothing is ever right, nothing pleases them, and nothing makes them happy. They have a love-hate relationship with the world, which means they love to hate things and hate to love other things.

They’re negative about the way their friends dress, about what their parents or siblings do, about their boss, co-workers, even the weather! 

Simply, they always try to find fault with everything and everyone around them and are critical of everything. In fact, they seem to enjoy doing it, too! This shows that negative thoughts are constantly running through their mind, which then manifests into negative behavior.

So, the next time you see someone pointing out all the negative aspects of something or someone, know that this person is emitting negative energy!

2. They Try to Bring You Down With Them

Have you ever had an encounter with someone who, when even things seemed fine between both of you, managed to deflate your happiness anyway? Perhaps you were excited about something, but this person managed to make you feel less enthusiastic about it.

What’s worse is that sometimes they might even try to convince you that whatever made you happy was actually stupid or not worth your time.

For instance, if the person is a friend who tries to bring down your enthusiasm for traveling, they might say something like, “You’re just going to go for a week and come back. What's the point? Why did you even want to go? Is it because your cousin convinced you?"

Negative people often try to make others feel as miserable as they do. They think this will somehow strengthen their bond of friendship or relationship since they’re both “in the same boat.” So when someone tries to get you to wallow in negative thoughts and emotions, know that they must be in that state!

And when it comes to bringing others down with them, some people don’t always realize what they're doing–it becomes so much a part of their nature that it comes out naturally in the form of conversation and behavior.

If you’re feeling positive and upbeat, they’ll do everything in their power to make sure that you remain like that. They might even use subtle ways, like insulting your favorite movie or pointing out the mistakes of your favorite actor–anything that'll deflate you!

3. They Tolerate Little to No Disappointment

When someone tolerates little to no disappointment, that’s a sign of negative energy. Why? 

Because the only way that they can effectively show how unable they are of letting go of their disappointments is by holding on to them until they affect them so badly that they feel suffocated! This means that constant negative thoughts are weighing down this person's mind.

So if you see someone who gets angry or upset over little things–like being late, being interrupted while speaking, having something thrown at them, and similar things that are normal for most people–then know this person emits some form of negative energy. 

However small these 'disappointments' might seem to you, for them, it's enough to cause an outburst or at least some form of annoyance.

Because negative thoughts are constantly running through their mind, they can handle very little disappointment. They often feel cheated or shortchanged when they don’t get what they want.

4. They Can't Handle Criticism

Negative people often fail to take criticism constructively. They either don’t listen at all or take it too much to heart and let it bother them. Either they get angry over something trivial, like the way you’ve criticised their cooking, or they dwell on your words even after your talk is long forgotten–both indicating that they're emitting negative energy.

If someone's always getting angry or offended by your words, then know that they can’t handle criticism. But, of course, you should also avoid saying anything that might be perceived as harsh–don't purposely criticise them over nothing and try to be tactful while doing so!

But if someone gets emotionally hurt every time you talk to them about some aspect of their behavior, habits, or appearance that they need to change (even if it's intended in a light-hearted manner), then know that person emits some negative energy.

In a nutshell, these people are extremely sensitive and prone to getting hurt more easily–and soon enough, their entire emotional state of mind is affected. They feel attacked when someone gives them negative feedback, even if it's constructive.

They might seem to take criticism 'in their stride' on the outside, but inside, they're seething at what you've said! They'll go over and over your words until that frustration turns into anger–and then it becomes directed towards you for hurting them in the first place!

This is because their negative thoughts aren’t only affecting the way they act but also the way they take things. Since they're always looking for something to get upset about, even constructive criticism seems like an attack to them.

5. They’re Afraid to Take Risks

Being a risk-taker isn't just about being impulsive and going with one's gut feelings–it also involves being able to take calculated risks. Those who can use their intuition effectively, without the burden of negative thoughts, act independently and bravely when needed!

Since negative people are always afraid of losing something, they never dare to take risks. They think that taking a risk involves more 'losing' than it does 'winning'. Because their negative energy is directed towards protecting themselves from loss, they're constantly afraid–so rather than taking any chances, they prefer stagnating where they are.

This is precisely why they don’t make plans for the future. After all, if something doesn’t happen soon enough, they might miss out altogether! As a result, you'll often observe them saying things like, “If I wanted to do this before, I would have done it then–but now, I've moved on.”

Whenever they're forced to take a risk, they'll try to find any and every reason not to do it. They may seem like the only reasonable ones, but deep down, their fears are what's holding them back!

6. They’re Quick to Label Things as ‘Bad’ and Are Pessimistic 

Negative people are quick to label things as bad. If you tell them that something is good, they’ll argue that it could be better–and this is because they're always finding faults with anything and everything around them! 

Their thoughts are so clouded by negativity that positive things don’t impress them. They’ll always see the downsides in anything before seeing its upsides, which is why you’ll never find them making any constructive suggestions.

Similarly, when a person constantly sees the negative side of every situation, they become pessimistic. They always look at what could go wrong in a particular situation, and even if they see a slight chance of it going wrong, they avoid taking any risks around it.

For instance, when offered something that sounds extremely good, their usual response would be, “Yes, but what if this happens?”

That’s because they’re constantly looking at things with a pessimistic point of view–after all, this offers them more 'protection' against loss! They'll only trust something when they see for themselves that it's effective in offering them some help.

Basically, if something works for someone else, they won't try it out by default. On the contrary, they'll probably scoff at the idea and mock you for even suggesting it!

7. They're Secretive But Curious

Negative people are secretive with everything that concerns them–but they're also curious about others' affairs! Since they're not willing to reveal anything about themselves, they'll always try to fish for information about other people.

Once you become aware of this trait, you'll realize that negative people are only interested in the lives of others because their own lives are so empty! Instead of working on making themselves happy, they look at what everyone else is doing and make it a point to criticise them for it!

When they talk about others, you'll notice that their eyes light up and their tone changes–but whenever they're asked questions about themselves or what they do, they get defensive and angry.

For example, when someone they know is in a relationship, they'll talk about it all day long. But if you ask them what their own love life is like, they’ll immediately stop talking and change the topic instantly.

The more negative energy they have, the more likely they are to interfere in someone else's plans out of sheer curiosity. They typically want to know what you're up to so they can find some way to discourage you from trying it–after all, they don’t want you to get ahead of them!

Final Words on Negative Energy

While you may not be able to make negative people by nature positive, you can definitely limit the amount of negativity they spread around. The moment you become aware of their negative energy, try to limit your interactions with them. This will go a long way in helping you with your negative energy removal journey!

Don't forget that negativity spreads like an epidemic, and if you're around it for too long, it can affect your health! So surround yourself with people who constantly strive to stay positive!

You could go one step further and help them find a more positive outlook on life so they can be happy, too–but this is easier said than done. It's not easy to keep negative people by nature positive – but that doesn't mean you can't make an effort! After all, you never know when your positivity might work on them, and they start becoming positive too.