A person with histrionic personality disorder is characterized by a pattern of cognitive, behavioral and emotional tendencies that differs from attractive, dramatic, very influential behavior and great emotional instability, in addition, those who suffer from a short-term histrionic personality disorder generate magnetism that attracts attention. other people.
In this way, we understand that we can observe the histrionic personality in these individuals who are attractive, who always seek to attract the attention of others and who are very influential, have intense feelings, exaggerate the importance of events and always seem to “represent a character”.
- If you remember the film “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
- ” Blake Edwards.
- 1961) and Holly Golightly’s character (played by Audrey Hepburn).
- You can see holly illustrating histrionic personality disorder.
- She is a woman who wants to become an actress.
- Leads a crazy and extravagant life.
- And is also very influential.
- She is convinced that she is in love with the men who cross paths and make her life a play.
In this article we will try to explain in a simple way how to identify a histrionic personality disorder, what causes it and what is the most appropriate therapeutic approach.
We are considered to be facing a psychological disorder and not a “way of being” when this type of personality severely affects the person who manifests it and the people who live with it. People closest to those with a personality disorder suffer greatly because it is a self-symtonic psychopathological state (behaviors, feelings, ideas, beliefs of the individual who agree, or in tune with their ego), therefore, for them this behavior is “normal”. That is, the disorder is integrated into the psychological structure of the person, it is part of the way they are.
Unlike an anxiety disorder or obsessive-compulsive disorder that is lived as something external that invades the person and has a starting point (egodisistonic disorders), personality disorders begin to develop before adolescence, little by little, and the person does not perceive it as a phenomenon that is alien to him.
“The curious paradox is that when I accept myself, I can change. “Carl Rogers?
Personality disorders are also characterized by the large number of problems and conflicts they generate in the nearest social context. The difference between a “way of being,” which can be modified fairly quickly in psychotherapy sessions, and personality disorders is that disorders are resilient. In addition, people with a personality disorder avoid going to the psychologist because they believe it and that ‘their problems are the fault of others’.
To diagnose a mental disorder, the criteria most used in psychiatry and psychology are those established by the American Psychological Association (APA), a term currently proposed by the APA in the Statistical Diagnostic Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) for this type of behavior is “histrionic personality disorder”. According to the APA, histrionic personality disorder belongs to group B of personality disorders, characterized by emotional capacity, drama and extraversion.
You may know several people who fit this description because they are dramatic, engaging, and influential, but that doesn’t mean they all have a histrionic personality disorder. In order to say that a person has a histrionic personality disorder, they need to have at least five of the following criteria:
In addition to the person with at least five of the above criteria, they need to appear in late adolescence and early adulthood in order to establish a diagnosis of histrionic personality disorder, when the diagnostic criteria are not met in quantity or time, it can be said that it is a person with a model personality style , profile or histrionic.
Like most psychopathological disorders, histrionic personality disorder is multicausal, implying that there can be several causes for its development and, in most individuals, there is a vulnerability (biological, psychological, social) that interacts with the environment (learning, education, drugs). use, emotional relationships).
However, unlike other psychological disorders that may have an identifiable trigger, such as a period of ongoing anxiety that results in panic attacks or job loss resulting in depression, in personality disorders, there is no trigger. Psychopathology.
“Even when the goal is not fully achievable, we improve when we pursue a larger goal. “? Victor Frankl?
Different techniques such as impulse control, emotional intelligence, improved thinking patterns and the work of cognitive distortions are used to treat this disorder.
Training in social skills and self-affirmation is critical to improving the disorder, as they are people accustomed to manipulating their interpersonal relationships with emotional crises, complaints and other unre vindicated attitudes (often can be aggressive).
An important part of psychological therapy is to help the patient identify what he wants, how he feels, what bothers him and how to express it correctly. As part of this self-affirmation training, the therapist questions his belief that the loss of a relationship would be disastrous and shows him that rejection is not catastrophic.
While it is a disorder that has complicated clinical treatment, improving these patients is not impossible, therapy is essential, it allows people with this disorder to free themselves from the great suffering generated by their psychopathology, and also allows them to recognize and recognize the suffering that their behavior causes in the environment in which they live, helping them to repair the “caused suffering” and improve the quality of life.