Histrionic Personality Disorder: Causes, Symptoms And Treatment
Have you ever met a person who always wants to be the center of attention, who loves drama and always seeks approval from others? You may know someone like this or even identify with them. In any case, you should know that this type of behavior has a reason and it is a disorder called histrionic personality disorder. Histrionic personality disorder is a condition that is characterized by the continuous need to attract attention, to dramatize and exaggerate emotions or feelings and, above all, a constant search for the approval of others. People who suffer from it use seduction and/or victimhood as tools to attract attention. This type of behavior causes significant discomfort in these people, since their interpersonal relationships in different areas of their life (family, work, school, etc.) are affected.
In this PsychologyFor article, histrionic personality disorder: causes, symptoms and treatmentwe are going to explain to you in detail everything about this condition and what its cure consists of.
People who suffer from Histrionic personality disorder present a series of characteristic symptoms that make it evident. Some of the main symptoms that people with this disease have are the following:
They show extremely seductive behavior when interacting with others. This in order to attract your attention.
They tend to be very impressionable, so they are easily carried away by the opinions and advice of others.
They take great care of their image and physical appearance to attract and attract the attention of other people.
They tend to dramatize, exaggerating their positive or negative emotions.
They are too vulnerable to criticism from others. Your well-being depends on the opinion of others.
They may come to perceive a superficial relationship with another person as if it were more intimate and close.
They are emotionally unstable.
They always want to be the center of attention and if they don’t achieve it, they don’t feel good about themselves.
They tend to blame other people for their mistakes and failures.
They are very impulsive and do things without thinking.
They are not introspective at all, they never reflect on their internal experiences.
They always seek the approval of others.
They like to be in control of the people and/or situations around them, which is why many tend to be manipulative.
Causes of histrionic personality disorder
There is not much information about what causes this type of condition, however, some interesting biological, social and psychological causes have been found. Among the main ones are the following:
Biological factors: It has been found that people with this type of disorder show poor functioning in the administration of some neurotransmitters such as noradrenaline and norepinephine.
Social factors: people who during childhood have had parents who did not give them the attention they needed and were too absent. They may also have received psychological abuse, mistreatment and humiliation. The parenting style can influence, since if as children they noticed that the only way to get their parents’ attention was by throwing tantrums, shouting and exaggerated tantrums, they grow up with the maladaptive belief that this way they will be able to be seen and taken. taken into account by others.
Psychological factors: factors such as the temperament and personality of the individual. An insecure person with low self-esteem and who does not feel satisfied with their physical appearance, among other things, can lead to the development and maintenance of histrionic behaviors.
Histrionic personality disorder: treatment
People who suffer from histrionic personality disorder do not recognize that they have it and the reason why they go to a professional is due to other secondary problems such as depression, anxiety, stress, social and/or work problems, among others. For treat histronic personalitypsychotherapy is used, however, sometimes it can be combined with medication.
Psychotherapy
The treatment consists, first, of doing a comprehensive behavioral assessment of the person to make a good diagnosis of the disorder. It will also identify which areas of the person’s life this type of histrionic behavior is affecting and, therefore, causing discomfort.
Various symptoms are usually found associated with this condition (depressive, anxious, hypochondriacal, among others) with which we work through different techniques such as cognitive restructuring, psychoeducation, relaxation exercises, among others, to alleviate them. We work especially with the person’s feelings, beliefs and experiences, which make them act in this way. Likewise, it promotes introspection so that the person can more easily have better control over their feelings and emotions. Some techniques that have proven effective in curing this disorder are mindfulness, EMDR, clinical hypnosis and relaxation techniques.
Medication
On some occasions, depending on the individual situation of each person, psychotherapy can be combined with the administration of some drugs, which are used to treat other symptoms and/or disorders associated with histrionic personality disorder, such as depression and anxiety. Normally, these types of secondary disorders appear as a consequence of having problems in relationships with other people.
This article is merely informative, at PsychologyFor we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
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