How to recognize and deal with hysterical personality disorder

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Stress can help heal, and five out of ten signs are enough to start therapy.

If you have 100 people you know, about two Histrionic Personality Disorder of them have hysterical personality disorder. Most likely, these two are women.

Hysterical personality disorder is diagnosed four times more often in women than in men.

But there is an assumption by the Histrionic Personality Disorder that in the case of men, hysterical traits - demonstrative behavior, thirst for recognition, emotional outbursts, communication in a raised voice - just seem acceptable to society, natural, so it seems that they do not require correction and a visit to a doctor. However, in reality, both men and women are hysterical with equal frequency.

Actually, for this reason in the English-language literature they abandoned the concept of "hysterical" in favor of "dramatic, feigned, theatrical" (histrionic). The word "hysterics" comes from the ancient Greek "womb", that is, it suggests that only women can suffer from hysterical disorder. Histrionic Personality Disorder is not sex-related.

Recognizing a “dramatic” violation is difficult. This behavior disorder (this is how F60.4 defines Histrionic Personality Disorder ICD-10 International Classifier of Diseases) often looks like openness, originality, a kind of sweet expression characteristic of charming creative characters.

However, there are important bells and whistles indicating that a person has crossed the line that separates eccentricity from mental disorder.

What are the symptoms of hysterical personality disorder

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) lists Histrionic Personality Disorder 10 key symptoms of this disorder. To suggest hysterical personality disorder, it is enough to notice at least five of them in the person's behavior.

1. Self-centeredness

A person feels the need to be in the center of attention, to outshine those around him. If for some reason this is objectively impossible, he will try to attract attention by all available means.

For example, if a histrionist is a student at a lecture, he will interrupt the lecturer with questions, and if, say, just a guest at a party with a star, he will deliberately laugh loudly or even deliberately break something.

2. Demonstrative behavior

This, for example, the habit of talking loudly, active gesticulation, exaggerated expression of emotions. For example, if such a person sees an acquaintance, he will not be limited to a simple "Hello!" - he will throw himself on his neck and kiss him.

3. The tendency to consider relationships with people closer than they are

Familiarity is another characteristic feature of histrionics. A person really wants to be loved and accepted, so he unconsciously seeks to show that everywhere and for everyone he is “his own”.

Histrionic easily pours out his soul, sometimes even to casual acquaintances. True, he speaks only on a limited number of topics: for example, through how many trials he passed with dignity, how he was admired, or, on the contrary, how soullessly and meanly he was betrayed.

4. Love for provocative outfits

Unusual, eye-catching clothing is one of the easiest ways to stand out from the crowd and attract attention. And the histrionist uses it to the fullest, choosing things in bright colors, lavishly adding embellishments and creating provocative kits.

5. Inappropriately seductive appearance or behavior

If the histrionic is a woman, she is a vamp woman. If a man is a mysterious macho. A person with such a disorder needs compliments and knows that the easiest way is to "squeeze" them out of the opposite sex. Hence the blatant sexuality that permeates the whole image.

6. Obsessive thirst for recognition and approval

A histrionic should be admired - only then will he be complacent and satisfied. If he is not noticed or, even worse, criticized, he will arrange a dramatic scandal and leave, theatrically wringing his hands, slamming the door goodbye.

7. Frequent and rapid mood swings

A person with a hysterical disorder is very emotional, and the most insignificant factors can cause a rapid change of emotions. For example, a histrionic may genuinely sob after losing a twenty or discovering that someone else has not washed the cup after themselves. But in a minute he will be just as sincerely laughing when he heard an insipid anecdote from a significant person.

8. Increased sensitivity to criticism

It is difficult to discuss conflict issues with a histrionic - it does not matter whether they are household or workers. The slightest dissatisfaction or a request not to do this anymore, he immediately takes into his account. And he begins to defend himself, often according to the principle "the best defense is attack."

The search for a compromise turns into a quarrel in a raised voice and becomes hopeless.

9. Suggestibility

Critical thinking, fact-checking, analysis are not about histrionics. His point of view is based on emotions: "It's close to me - it means it's true."

A huge influence on the formation of the views of a person with a hysterical disorder is exerted by authorities, that is, people who are personally significant for him. He perceives their words completely uncritically, often - as the ultimate truth.

10. Deterioration of the quality of life due to peculiarities of behavior

This is a common symptom of behavioral disorders: they ruin a person's life.

For example, an overly emotional histrionic prone to dramatization cannot build stable personal or business relationships: partners run away from him after the very first theatrical scandals.

Or another angle: because of gullibility and love for revealing outfits, histrionics now and then find themselves in risky situations.

Here's another example: because of the inability to be critical of himself, he cannot draw conclusions from past mistakes, so he steps on the same rake over and over again, blaming anyone but himself for his problems.

What to do if a person has hysterical personality disorder

The most effective Histrionic Personality Disorder treatment for Histrionic Personality Disorder is psychotherapy. The problem is that histrionics, as a rule, do not consider their behavior to be corrected and are often not ready to consult a psychotherapist.

The easiest way to do this is as follows. Sooner or later, the histrionic once again gets his forehead from life. Against this background, he experiences severe stress, anxiety, and sometimes he develops depression. It is at such a moment that it is worth taking a person by the hand and leading to a specialist. To begin with - to solve the "stressful" problem, and after it and deal with histrionic disorder.

Most likely, the doctor will choose the so-called psychodynamic Hysteroid Personality Disorder approach to work with the patient. It is based on psychoanalysis: with the help of a specialist, a person learns to understand what exactly makes him do certain actions.

In the first step, the therapist will ask the patient to replace active behavior with words. For example, if a histrionic wants to throw himself on someone's neck, he should stop and explain to himself what is happening: "I'm glad to meet you." This deciphering of emotions, which should become a habit, helps to understand yourself and learn to communicate with others in a less theatrical way.

Further, the psychotherapist will help the histrionist realize that drama, excessive emotionality is just a way to attract attention, to feel significant. And he will show you how to maintain self-confidence in other ways.

Unfortunately, it is impossible to predict in advance how quickly psychotherapy will work. In some cases, it stretches over several years. You may also need to take medications - antidepressants, antipsychotics, normotimics (as they call psychotropic drugs to stabilize mood).