CLUSTER B PERSONALITY DISORDERS

10 Signs You Might Have Histrionic Personality Disorder

For those who ever wondered whether they are histrionic

1. You seek to be the centre of attention

People with Histrionic Personality Disorder resemble narcissists as they also seek attention compulsively and become upset when they are not the centre of attention.

This is because, just like narcissists, they need other people’s approval to feel good about themselves. In other words, they also seek narcissistic supply. But, while we all seek narcissistic supply to a certain degree, this is like an addiction for narcissists and histrionics.

Histrionics often dress provocatively or in an inappropriately sexy way to use their looks to garner attention. They wish to be the life of the party. If they fail to do so, they may act out and create hysterical scenes. While narcissists also seek attention, they do this to feel admired. Histrionics, in comparison, are not picky about the kind of attention they get and do not mind being seen as cute or silly.

2. Your interactions with others are often characterized by inappropriately sexually seductive or provocative behaviour

Histrionics are preoccupied with physical appearance, sexual conquests and their bodies because they want to impress others. They are likely to spend huge amounts of money and time on grooming. They also sexualize everyone and every situation. They constantly act flirtatious, provocative and seductive, even when such behaviour is highly inappropriate.

This is because they use attention to regulate their sense of self-worth. They can become flirtatious and trade sex for small amounts of attention. Even if the attention they get is demeaning (such as being groped or harassed), they still prefer it to being ignored.

Histrionics usually dress and act in inappropriately seductive and provocative ways in many settings, such as at work or school. People typically find their need for approval annoying, and consequently, histrionics can be subject to social ostracism.

3. You display theatrical and exaggerated expressions of emotions

Histrionics are the quintessential drama queens. They tend to act out their emotions very dramatically as if they were performing before an audience. They display exaggerated emotions and expressions. They also appear to lack sincerity. This is because their expression of emotion tends to be shallow — turned on and off too quickly. They may express strong opinions, but with few facts to support these.

Their excessive display of emotions to gain attention often results in people accusing histrionics of being fake. In addition, those close to them are often embarrassed by histrionics’ overt emotionality, such as their uncontrollable sobbing in public and temper tantrums.

4. You are easily influenced by others or circumstances

Histrionics are easily suggestible and will respond instantly to the slightest change in circumstances and the most meaningless communication or behaviour by others. Histrionics are often early adopters and closely adhere to the latest fads and fashions, as they are just as easily influenced by current trends. They also tend to be too trusting, especially of authority figures.

5. You consider your relationships to be more intimate than they actually are

People with this disorder are quick to idealize people as potential intimate partners. This can create instant and often fake intimacy with others, triggered by things like having a one-night stand. They are also prone to projecting their own desires to find “the one” onto the other person early on and start daydreaming about how perfect the relationship will be in the future. They tend to have high expectations of others.

6. You have a fearful-avoidant attachment style that is leaning towards the anxious side

People with this attachment style fear abandonment and have a deep-seated fear of rejection, which means they worry that they will be hurt if they allow themselves to become too close to others. As a result, they can go to extreme measures to avoid real or imagined separation or rejection, such as by people-pleasing even at a cost to themselves or making suicide threats to guilt people into staying in relationships.

7. You tend to become romantically involved with psychopaths

Histrionic Personality Disorder and Antisocial Personality Disorder have been linked for a century, and antisocial and hysterical traits are often seen together in patients.¹ Consequently, people who form intense attachments to psychopaths show characteristics of histrionic personality disorder. These include mood lability, sexual problems, stubbornness, aggressive behaviour, egocentricity, sexual provocativeness, exhibitionism, and high levels of dependency.²

Histrionics can be differentiated from psychopaths by the following traits: hypochondriacal complaints, anxiety and depression and attachment hunger. People with HPD will tend to idealise their psychopathic partners and try to gain attention and sustain approval through seductive and flirtatious behaviours. This idealisation may also include fierce defence of psychopaths’ activities, including criminal ones, excessive verbal praise and an intense attachment immune to psychopaths’ abusive behaviours. This idealisation enhances psychopaths’ grandiosity, and therefore they will tend to respond very positively to it.

8. You are promiscuous and/or preoccupied with sex

Many histrionics are promiscuous and seek out sex to feel better about themselves and regulate their self-esteem. Others are less interested in having sex but still seek a similar type of attention by dressing up seductively.

In general, histrionics tend to be asexual like narcissists — they do not like sex at all, or they simply don’t derive any sexual pleasure from intercourse. What histrionics like is the power that their sexuality gives them over other people. Sex and sexual attention are essentially used as a tool to conquer and win over people, which makes them feel more confident about themselves.

9. You have had mood lability from a young age

While it’s normal to have experiences with anxiety and depression throughout life, it is not normal if these are chronic and experienced most of the time.

Histrionics are very emotionally dysregulated. Their emotions are all over the place and often chaotic and disorganised. It can also be challenging for them to label these emotions.

They tend to suffer from emotional swings (day-to-day changes), social anxiety, shame, depression and low self-esteem. In addition, they struggle with high levels of anxiety, especially social anxiety. Because their self-esteem depends on other people’s opinions and approval, this puts a lot of pressure on them constantly to try to appear a certain way.

10. You have an obsessive focus on your appearance

This can manifest as perfectionism, body dysmorphia or eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa. Because histrionics rely on others’ approval to regulate their self-esteem, they have an innate need to be perfect. And because the attention they seek tends to be for their looks and sexuality, they are likely to be very obsessed with how they look. The more insecurities they have, the more perfectionistic they will tend to be.

References:

[1]: Meloy, J. R. (1997). Violent Attachments. Jason Aronson, Inc.

[2]: Horowitz, M. J. (Ed.). (1991). Hysterical personality style and the histrionic personality disorder (Rev. ed.). Jason Aronson.

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