14 Behaviors That Reveal Histrionic Personality Disorder

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The person who suffers from HPD doesn’t see the need for care as most don’t believe that they have a problem. Treatment is brutal when they don’t like routine and fight any changes.

They may be willing to accept help for specific aspects of the condition, like depression or anxiety, but they don’t consider the bigger picture. The best way to treat a person with HPD is by using psychotherapy. During treatment, the therapist tries to get to the root of their fears, which is the cause of their behaviors.

Uncovering the motivation behind these actions can be quite scary, and therefore so many are resistant to care. Cognitive-behavioral therapy helps the person suffering from HPD learn how to treat others more positively so that they can have meaningful relationships.

Since this mental health condition affects social, professional, or romantic relations, they must seek treatment to have any normality in their life. It’s not uncommon for this individual to suffer from deep depressive moods when their tactics to get attention and compensate for their negative feelings don’t work.

Final Thoughts on Histrionic Personality Disorder

HPD falls under “Cluster B” personality disorders in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders or DSM-5. Due to the nature of personality disorders, they’re often hard to treat. Someone suffering from histrionic personality will battle this condition lifelong in most instances.

If you regularly deal with this person, you will need firm guidelines in what will be acceptable to you. It’s increasingly challenging to have any relationship with this individual, so encouraging them to seek treatment is advisable. With therapy and a healthy support system, the person with HPD can have a good, quality life.

The goal is to retrain the brain to view situations differently and get at the core issues driving these toxic behaviors. When trauma and environmental factors are to blame, processing these events can help to bring relief and ease the internal struggle. Genetic components are harder to fight, but therapy can be a useful tool to cope.