As a final thought, is it the same phenomenen which carlos casteneda refers to as the flyers?
Those books blew my mind in my 20's, one of the things which made sense is that if they feed off our <dark> emotions, then the way to protect yourself <and stop feeding the bastards> is to attain a quiet mental state, inner silence as carlos calls it<I call it not thinking>, calm abiding I think buddists call it. So yeah as don juan says in active side of inifinty [very roughly], "I never agreed to this, you aint gettin my energy."
Try it, gets easier with practice......Also in stressful situations you can switch a part of your mind off and just be in the moment. Quite un nerving for people who are used to pushing your buttons and getting a reaction.