Histrionic Personality Disorder Symptoms

They might seem charming and charismatic. When a person with histrionic personality disorder enters the room, they instantly become the center of attention. This disguise comes at a certain price. HPD symptoms make these people crave social approval and negatively impact their routine functionality.

What is a histrionic personality? Which symptoms of HPD make them struggle with maintaining relationships? Is there any HPD treatment to ease the lives of such patients and their close ones?  .

What Is Histrionic Personality Disorder?

Histrionic Personality Disorder or HPD is a psychiatric condition [1] characterized by excessively emotional, inconsistent behaviors that can affect everyday life. This disorder for attention-seeking shows in the form of flashy emotionality and demonstrative sexuality. Such people know how to manipulate others to draw focus to themselves. When they fail to garner the much-needed interest, their self-esteem tumbles down the rabbit hole, leaving them frustrated and feeling unworthy.

Symptoms of Histrionic Personality Disorder

What is histrionic personality disorder symptoms? This encompasses a bunch of unfavorable conditions [2] that negatively impact various spheres of life.

Emotional Symptoms

• Overwhelming feelings;
• Brisk emotional metamorphoses;
• All-encompassing fear of rejection;
• Oversensitivity to disapproval;
• Sense of boredom caused by routine.

Behavioral Symptoms

• Alluring and provocative behaviors;
• Overreaction or playing a drama queen to gain attention;
• Impulsive and hasty decisions;
• Theatrical speech;
• Seductive clothing;
• Frivolous or insincere demeanor in social interactions.

Cognitive Symptoms

• Hang-up about physical appearance;
• Difficulty with building intimate relations;
• Suggestibility and naiveness;
• Incessant surge for approval and compassion.

Histrionic personality disorder causes people to poorly tolerate frustration, which can interfere with building a career and healthy personal relationships.

Causes of Histrionic Personality Disorder

What causes histrionic personality disorder? It may develop if a person encounters the following risks [3]:

• Childhood trauma;
• Family history of psychiatric conditions, depression, or anxiety;
• Genetic predisposition to personality disorders;
• Encouragement for attention-seeking demeanor in childhood;
• Deficiency of personal boundaries as a kid;
• Erratic and precarious parenting;
• Chaotic or improper sexual behaviors of caregivers.

This forms a favorable background for HPD personality development.

Differentiating Histrionic Personality Disorder

It might be challenging to diagnose HPD, as its symptoms may coincide with other personality disorders [4]. M

Histrionic vs. Borderline Personality Disorder

Both HPD and borderline personality disorder imply shifting, attention-seeking, and manipulative demeanors, but they can still be differentiated.

Since their symptoms frequently overlap, these disorders can coexist in one person.

Attention-Seeking Disorders Symptoms

Pervasive histrionic personality disorder symptoms can manifest in:

• Issues with personal boundaries;
• Pursuing compliments from others;
• Using social media to ask the audience for likes and comments;
• Pretending overly fragile to get attention or help;
• Playing victim for compassion;
• Being divisive in search of a reaction.

Longing for attention makes people with HPD accept both positive and negative recognition.

Treatment for Histrionic Personality Disorder

The main constraint to effective treatment for HPD lies in a low level of awareness of such individuals regarding their behavior. Typically, they don’t realize a problem exists unless someone reflects the actual state of things. Understanding the need for transformation can help them lead a more enjoyable and rewarding lifestyle.

Psychotherapy

Psychotherapists create a hosting environment for people with HPD, enabling them to work on the embedded behavioral patterns. Different therapeutic approaches are effective against attention seeker disorder symptoms, gestalt, psychodynamic, or cognitive-behavioral therapy among them.

Medication Options

However, most symptoms such as rapid mood shifts, poor impulse management, and pronounced depression or anxiety can be alleviated with specifically designed medications.

Group Therapy

Group therapy can teach HPD patients to express their feelings more sustainably, manage their impulsive emotional reactions, and develop healthy relationships. Tracking genuine responses of group mates to the established behavioral pattern enhances self-awareness in people with HPD.

Living With Histrionic Personality Disorder

Though this condition impedes balanced well-being, many people with histrionic personality disorder have prolific lives. Untreated HPD can bring up other medical conditions [5], inducing the need to cope with triggering thoughts, demeanors, and events.

Case Studies and Examples

Histrionic personality patterns have numerous traces in modern culture, from wayward Scarlett O’Hara to spectacular Bellatrix Lestrange. Let’s examine the real-life case of a 17-year-old high school student [6], who addressed a therapist after undergoing a rape experience.

Example of Histrionic Personality Disorder

The girl grew up in a shattered family and developed a dependent attachment style. Visible manifestations included explosive behavior in informal and familiar surroundings, drama-provoking issues, and somatization as a means of getting love and attention. She treated others as puppets on her personal scene and tried to manipulate the psychologist. A student had a loud manner of self-manifestation and frequently got into conflicts. These traits enabled a therapist to identify histrionic personality disorder.

Real-Life Implications

If HPD is left untreated, individuals may:

• Have trouble in interpersonal relationships;
• Have problems maintaining jobs;
• Partake in risky adventures;
• Develop depressive disorders;
• Have panic attacks;
• Take health-harming substances;
• Use suicidal threats to gain attention.

It’s vital to have a proper diagnosis to promote recovery and enhance overall quality of life.

FAQs About Histrionic Personality Disorder

What causes histrionic personality disorder?

HPD causes encompass a range of genetic, psychological, and social factors — from childhood trauma and genetic susceptibility to personality disorders to erratic parenting and inappropriate sexual behaviors of caregivers.

How prevalent is HPD?

Histrionic personality disorder occurs in 1–2 percent of the global population [1], regardless of gender. On average, hysterical personality disorder symptoms vibrantly manifest when a person reaches their twenties threshold.

References:

1. Tyler J. Torrico, Jennifer H. French, Sunny P. Aslam, Sangam Shrestha. Histrionic Personality Disorder. 2025 Jan. Link: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK542325/. Access Date: June 26, 2025.
2. American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.). 2013. Link: https://archive.org/details/APA-DSM-5/page/143/mode/2up. Access Date: June 26, 2025.
3. Ted Reichborn-Kjennerud. The genetic epidemiology of personality disorders. 2010 Mar. PMID: 20373672. PMCID: PMC3181941. Link: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3181941/. Access Date: June 26, 2025.
4. Pavel S. Blagov, Katherine A. Fowler, Scott O. Lilienfeld. Histrionic Personality Disorder. 2007. Link: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/292824940_Histrionic_personality_disorder. Access Date: June 27, 2025.
5. Ntalamanga. Histrionic Personality Features and Depression. 2021 Jun. Link: https://studenttheses.uu.nl/bitstream/handle/20.500.12932/41333/Ntalamanga%20(9856676)%20thesis.pdf?sequence=1. Access Date: June 27, 2025.
6. The Association of Integrative Research, Counselling and Psychotherapy (AIRCP). SUPERVISING A CASE OF HISTRIONIC PERSONALITY DISORDER – AN INTEGRATIVE STRATEGIC APPROACH. Link: https://journals.indexcopernicus.com/api/file/viewByFileId/1263374