QUESTION:
Dear Dr. Heller,
I have a daughter who is very ill. What exactly is Histrionic Personality Disorder?
Thanks.
ANSWER:
The Histrionic Personality Disorder (HPD) is characterized by severe attention seeking
and inappropriately excessive emotions. They usually need to be the center of attention,
can be sexually inappropriate - particularly about appearance, have rapidly shifting and
shallow emotions, and are easily influenced by others. They tend to be very dramatic, and
their speech lacks details. They tend to consider relationships to be more intimate than
they actually are.
The literature in Medline has shown no neurological abnormalities nor any good medical
treatment for the HPD. The HPD rarely exists by itself, and when other medically treatable
diagnoses are successfully treated their histrionic nature tends to improve. The
screening test
I use for my patients may be of assistance in this
regard.
The HPD is part of the "dramatic" cluster of personality disorders, also
referred to as "Cluster B Personality Disorders". Some symptoms can be
dramatically improved by SSRI medications like Prozac.
