Individuals with histrionic personality disorder (HPD) display emotional exhibitionism with excessive dramatic behaviors. An intense desire for attention and affection leads to self-centered, seductive, and manipulative behaviors, with a lack of consideration of their impact on others. HPD is characterized by a need to be the center of attention, giving the impression of a continuous performance. Individuals diagnosed with HPD neither recognize that others perceive their behavior as shallow, excessive, or manipulative, nor see themselves in this way. This often leads to interpersonal difficulties, problematic relationships, and emotional disturbance with anger and low mood that they generally attribute to external causes. A similar pattern is displayed during therapy, which presents therapeutic challenges. Patients with HPD may seem willing to stay in the treatment as they ...

  • Loading...
locked icon

Sign in to access this content

Get a 30 day FREE TRIAL

  • Watch videos from a variety of sources bringing classroom topics to life
  • Read modern, diverse business cases
  • Explore hundreds of books and reference titles