Histrionic Personality Disorder

Histrionic personality disorder is a personality disorder. It is marked by attention seeking, strong opinions, easily influenced, obsessed with appearance, rapid emotion and mood shifts, and hyper-sexual behavior. It is defined by The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, DSM-5. The DSM-5 is published by the American Psychiatric Association.

Diagnosis requires at least five of these.

• Needs to be the center of attention, and is uncomfortable if they are not
• Shallow, rapidly shifting emotions
• The use of physical appearance to draw others’ attention
• Inappropriate sexual, seductive or provocative behavior when interacting with others
• Dramatic, impressionistic speech that lacks detail
• Exaggerated, theatrical emotional expression
• Easily influenced by others or situations
• Assumes relationships are more intimate than they are

Sources & Resources

General

• Histrionic Personality Disorder (HPD) – Merick Manuals

Journal Articles

• Hofvander, B., Delorme, R., Chaste, P., Nydén, A., Wentz, E., Ståhlberg, O., Herbrecht, E., Stopin, A., Anckarsäter, H., Gillberg, C. and Råstam, M. (2009). Psychiatric and psychosocial problems in adults with normal-intelligence autism spectrum disorders. BMC psychiatry, 9(1), 35+.