What is histrionic personality disorder (HPD)?

Histrionic personality disorder is part of a larger category of psychological disorders known as "Cluster B" personality disorders. Treatment may be combined with therapy and medication.

An individual with HPD carries a distorted mental picture of themselves. They base a lot of their self-esteem on getting approval from others. Therefore, they have a desperate desire to be noticed. Because of these reasons, people suffering from HPD may resort to dramatic antics.

Women are diagnosed with HPD more than men. That might be due to the fact that men report their symptoms less often than women.

Who does HPD affect?

HPD often starts in the late teens or early 20s.

Histrionic personality disorder is diagnosed more predominantly in women and people assigned female at birth than in people assigned male at birth. However, researchers believe that a diagnosis may be missed in both men and people assigned male at birth.

What are the symptoms and signs of histrionic personality disorder?

HPD is not a debilitating psychological disorder. Most people with histrionic personality disorder function successfully in society and at work. Individuals with HPD generally possess great people skills. Unluckily, they most often use these people skills to manipulate others.

Individuals with histrionic personality disorder manifest five or more of the following symptoms:

• Feeling uneasy in people who do not focus on them.
• Person-to person relations which is inappropriate, including sexual seductive and even provocative.
• Self-dramatization, theatricality, as well as obvious display of emotions.
• Maintains a continuous physical attention to attract the audience's attention to him or her.
• He or she is suggestible and is more easily influenced by others or circumstances.
• Shallow expression of emotions.
• Thinks relationships are more intimate than they are.

If you suffer from HPD, it might be easy to become angry or bored with routines and also to make impulsive decisions without thinking or threatening suicide to be heard.

What causes histrionic personality disorder?

The cause of histrionic personality disorder (HPD) is unknown. Scientists believe it could be a product of both environmental and genetic factors. Some families have a history of histrionic personality disorder, which gives credence to the theory that it might have a genetic explanation for parts of it. At the same time, children of parents with HPD could just be exhibiting behaviors they learned from their parents. HPD may also result from a lack of discipline or positive reinforcement of dramatic behaviours in childhood. A child learns HPD behaviors as a means to attract attention from their parents. Regardless of the cause, HPD often manifests by early adulthood.

How is histrionic personality disorder diagnosed?

Histrionic personality disorder is diagnosed based on psychological assessment. A healthcare provider will consider the following factors: how long a person has had symptoms and the severity of the symptoms.

A doctor can diagnose this based on a patient's behaviour, overall appearance and psychological evaluation.

How is histrionic personality disorder treated?

In most cases, people with HPD won't really believe much when they are told about problematic behaviours being present. They usually exaggerate their feelings and displace their feelings by creating activities that sometimes make it virtually impossible to follow a treatment programme. The exception may come as seeking therapy for themselves if it tends to be around depression related to loss or a ruptured relationship or some other issue from the thinking and behaviour of the person.

Psychotherapy or talk therapy is typically the best treatment for histrionic personality disorder or other personality disorders. Therapy is meant to uncover what someone fears and motivate that particular thinking and behaviour in one way versus another; moreover, it teaches people to like people better. The kinds of psychotherapies that are found to be helpful in such personalities include:

Group therapy is another type of psychotherapy in which a group of people meets and describes and discusses their problems with a therapist or psychologist. Some of the benefits of therapy can be especially helpful for people with HPD, especially if they are shared among other people with HPD. Being exposed to behaviour patterns will help one with HPD reflect on his or her behaviour.

• Psychodynamic psychotherapy: This therapy focuses on the psychological roots of emotional suffering. In this process, the person undergoing therapy, by introspection and self-examination, looks into problematic relationship patterns in life.
• Supportive psychotherapy: This type of therapy works on symptom improvement and maintaining, restoring, or enhancing self-esteem and coping skills. It involves examination of relationships and patterns of emotional response or behavior.
• Cognitive behavioural therapy: CBT (Cognitive behavioural therapy) is a structured, goal-oriented form of therapy. A therapist or psychologist helps you examine your thoughts and feelings more closely. You will then begin to understand how your thoughts affect your behaviour. In CBT, you learn to unlearn patterns of negative thought and behaviour and develop more constructive thinking patterns and habits.

Medications cannot directly treat personality disorders. There are several medicines available for treating mood disorders and anxiety, both of which people with histrionic personality disorder are often said to suffer from. Treating these conditions makes it easier to treat histrionic personality disorder.

Can histrionic personality disorder be prevented?

Histrionic personality disorder usually cannot be prevented, but treatment may allow a person at risk for this illness to learn healthier styles of dealing with triggering situations, thoughts, and behaviours.

What are the complications that arise with histrionic personality disorder?

The individual suffering from a histrionic personality disorder may have problems in social or love life. The individual cannot manage depression and failures. The individual remains changing jobs because the one gets bored and cannot handle frustration. They may long for new things and excitement to cause dangerous situations. All this may lead to an increased chance of depression and even suicide.

What is the prognosis for histrionic personality disorder?

Histrionic personality disorder may get better with talk therapy and sometimes medication. Unless treated, it can cause problems in a person's personal life and they won't be able to give their best in the workplace.

When to call the doctor?

Discuss with your doctor or mental health specialist if you or anyone else suffers from symptoms of histrionic personality disorder.

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