Histrionic Personality Disorder: Causes, Symptoms and Treatment

A mental heath condition known as a histrionic personality disorder (HPD) involves excessive emotionality and requires you to be constantly the center of attention. As a prevention, people with this disorder often do things in a dramatic, theatrical way to draw attention and approval from others. What they may do is feel uncomfortable and lack the center of attention and act in ways that are inappropriate or provocative to get the center of attention. It is a subtype of both a broader class of personality disorders referred to as Cluster B disorders (those characterized by volatile, emotional behaviors), and narcissistic personality disorder.

What is Histrionic Personality Disorder?

The medical description of Histrionic Personality Disorder (HPD) includes both strong emotions and the need to be noticed by others. People who have HPD experience emotional discomfort whenever others fail to notice them thus they resort to outrageous yet improper conduct to seek approval.

What People Can They Affect with Histrionic Personality Disorder?

The histrionic personality disorder can affect anyone of any gender or background, although mostly it is diagnosed in women. It usually appears in adults or early adulthood, and there is likely a mixture of biological, environmental and social contributing factors. HPD can greatly affect personal relations, work performance, and quality of life.

What is the Prevalence of Histrionic Personality Disorder?

The medical community considers this personality disorder less frequent than other conditions. Healthcare professionals view Histrionic Personality Disorder as affecting between 1 percent and 3 percent of humans. Researchers suggest that total prevalence numbers might be higher because healthcare providers can easily fail to detect this disorder and patients may choose not to report it. The diagnosis and treatment effectiveness requires more public understanding about this condition.

Signs and Symptoms of Histrionic Personality Disorder

The management of Histrionic personality disorder symptoms becomes possible through early detection because patients know which warning signs to watch for. People with HPD typically demonstrate these characteristics:

• The constant need for the center of attention.
• Shallow emotional expression rapidly shifting.
• Doing something provocative and inappropriate.
• People who worry excessively about their looks dedicate all efforts to gain approval from others through physical presentation.
• Look-at-me gestures and loud verbalizations serve to gain admiration from people.
• People struggle to make choices independently because they let others use them for their own needs or because they want to avoid letting others use them for their own needs or follow popular trends.
• Failure and disapproval as well as criticism create challenges for someone to handle effectively.
• People view others as superficial and struggle to create enduring bonds in their relationships.

What Causes Histrionic Personality Disorder?

• The development of histrionic personality disorder requires analysis of both inherited genetic elements and environmental conditions.
• The risk of HPD development appears higher when there exists family history of personality disorders and mental health conditions.
• The development of HPD requires experiences from early childhood stages because inconsistent parenting along with excessive attention or neglect produces behaviors which become characteristic of HPD.
• Due to prevailing social criteria that value looks and achievement individuals may develop attention-grabbing habits.

Most aspects of these risk factors influence people to develop HPD yet we must recognize that different individuals may respond differently to these experiences. More research about this combination should be conducted to generate better understanding.

What is Histrionic Personality Disorder Done For?

A proper diagnosis does not come if you do not have a visit to a mental health professional. There aren’t any histrionic personality disorder tests per se — even clinicians get to look at patterns of behavior and responses to emotion over time. The process is guided by diagnostic criteria specified in the DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition). The evaluation typically includes:

• A detailed clinical interview.
• Benchtop psychological questionnaires or assessments.
• Collecting a history of interpersonal relationships and social functioning.

When behaviors consistently meet the list of criteria established criteria, and cause significant distress or impairment, a diagnosis is confirmed.

Treatment of Histrionic Personality Disorder

Treatment for effective histrionic personality disorder seeks to increase emotional regulation, increase self-esteem, and improve the quality of interpersonal relationships. Treatment options may include:

Therapy for Histrionic Personality Disorder: Treatment of HPD is the cornerstone of psychotherapy, particularly cognitive and behavioral therapy (CBT). CBT teaches people to become aware of and change their thoughts and actions that may be causing a condition. Psychodynamic therapy and group therapy are also beneficial other therapeutic approaches.

Medication: However, there is no medicine available to treat HPD; antidepressants or anti-anxiety medication may be given to treat so-called ‘comorbidity,’ that is, additional conditions involving depression or anxiety.

Lifestyle and Support: Outcomes are significantly improved by building a support network and stress-reducing activities. Family education and friends education is also important for everyone to have a better understanding of death and compassion for the dying.

Effective management and a better quality of life can be provided if you seek help from a histrionic personality disorder specialist.

Find the Support You Need in Palm Coast

We at Palm Coast Treatment Centers are committed to providing caring, professional treatment to our patients with histrionic personality disorder and other mental illnesses. But if you or a loved one is struggling we can and will help.

For more information about our specialized services and personalized treatment plans call us today at (386) 284-4151.

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