Are you familiar with the main histrionic personality disorder symptom? People that suffer from this disorder are characterized by excessive emotionality and a strong tendency to draw others’ attention through a striking and dramatic behavior. They are constantly seeking or require attention, support and approval of other individuals.
Histrionic personality disorder symptom- Extreme attention
Their behavior is often seductive; they actually worry about having a good appearance to please others. As mentioned above, a known histrionic personality disorder symptom is liked to being the center of attention. People are lively, their behavior is somehow dramatic, moody, and others perceive them as self-centered, superficial, and with exaggerated emotions. Their dress code tends to be elaborated and colorful, especially designed to attract the attention of others.
You can easily identify histrionic personality disorder symptom by noticing body language details. They display large gestures to communicate with others and a high voice, even talking incessantly. People with such disorder express their emotions intensely, with bursts of anger or definitely uncontrolled. This can take over! If you know your loved one is suffering, try helping immediately. You will soon realize the importance of support. Friends and family members must be aware.
Other people see them as superficial, demanding, without authenticity and dependents. Their relationships with others are often stormy, unsatisfactory and full of problems. Given their heavy reliance on others to get attention, another histrionic personality disorder symptom has to do with the feeling of great anxiety about losing their partner or being left alone.
Men vs. women symptoms
According to many sources, this disorder is more common in women than in men. However, this disorder has different characteristics according to the affected patient, it depends whether it develops in men or women. Most of the times, this disorder is usually a kind of caricature or exaggeration of the traditional sex roles of men and women. That is, an extreme femininity, in the case of women, or an extreme masculinity, in the case of men, defined both concepts from the more traditional views. Thus, women would be defined as histrionic vain, superficial, immature, affected, dependent and selfish.
Since research has focused more on the definition of histrionic point of view of the stereotype of femininity, it is considered that the disorder is more common in women. In addition, the main man histrionic personality disorder symptom obeys the stereotype of “macho man” theatrical sensation-seeker, self-centered, superficial and vain.