Histrionic personality disorder is characterized by a long-standing pattern of attention seeking behavior and extreme emotionality. Someone with histrionic personality disorder wants to be the center of attention in any group of people, and feel uncomfortable when they are not.
While often lively, interesting and sometimes dramatic, they have difficulty when people aren’t focused exclusively on them. People with this disorder may be perceived as being shallow, and may engage in sexually seductive or provocative behavior to draw attention to themselves.
Individuals with histrionic personality disorder may have difficulty achieving emotional intimacy in romantic or sexual relationships. Without being aware of it, they often act out a role (such as the victim) in their relationships to others. They may seek to control their partner through emotional manipulation or seductiveness on one level, whereas displaying a marked dependency on them at another level.
Symptoms of Histrionic Personality Disorder
- Is uncomfortable in situations in which he or she is not the center of attention
- Interaction with others is often characterized by inappropriate sexually seductive or provocative behavior
- Displays rapidly shifting and shallow expression of emotions
- Consistently uses physical appearance to draw attention to themself
- Has a style of speech that is excessively impressionistic and lacking in detail
- Shows self-dramatization, theatricality, and exaggerated expression of emotion
- Is highly suggestible, i.e., easily influenced by others or circumstances
- Considers relationships to be more intimate than they actually are
Histrionic Personality Disorder in Film
There have been a number of movies have had characters who portrayed a person with histrionic personality disorder. The following films contain a character with histrionic personality disorder that depicts the condition in a realistic manner. Each film also provides a foundation for a good Cinema Therapy experience due to directorial style, character development, casting, and production quality. New releases will be added to the list below so return if this topic is of interest to you.
- Gone with the Wind (1939)
- Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1941)
- A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
- Thaniyavarthanam (1987)
- Small Sacrifices (1989)
- Mean Girls (2004)
- Breathe (2014)
- Being Julia (2004)
- The Great Gatsby (2013)
- Gone with the Wind (1939)
- Postcards from the Edge (1990)
- Beaches (1991)
- The Birdcage (1996)
- America’s Sweethearts (2001)
- Chicago (2002)