mY pERsonALitTy DIsoRder CoULD usE sOMe aTteNTIon!!1!

Why should Borderlines get all the love? It’s not fair, torture month is over.

I called dibs on Histrionic PD back in ‘94 and it shows up consistently in the psych evals. I know who I am, I’m a lot like you Borderlines, except fun, fun people like me deserve the center stage and as a member of the American ownership society it behooves me to take possession of my Axis II diagnosis, all the vavoom I have that Borderlines don’t and make no mistake, Histrionic is a kitten, she belongs to me.

The construct is located on the “Cluster B” designation of dramatic hellcat disorders, alongside the Narcissists, Borderlines, and Sociopaths, good company all, when you put away the knives.

First let’s see what the leading mental health shredders have deemed the criteria for Histrionic PD, its prognosis and ersatz treatment, and if you know of anything that might illuminate, comments are open, let this be the thread.

I’m looking in the DSM, which, as you know, was never meant to get into patient hands, but I scored a hard copy from my connections on the street. Of course there’s no way to read it w/out screaming “I don’t agree! I don’t agree! Scholarshit! Balderdash!” No, I prefer to get my diagnostics from a more reliable source as a reality-based blogger it’s the prevailing way.

DSM? Check. Online diagnostic tool? Say no more, this one’s based on the naked emperor but the disclaimer opens with a “General Note”:

The validity and reliability of DSM-IV personality disorders are still lacking in strong statistical evidence and clear agreement in the scientific and medical community.
They are determined by the American Psychiatric Association and will likely be revised in the future.

This free anonymous test is no Quizilla, it was designed by the official PhD scientific researcher at Similar Minds, anyone can take it here.

Join me? Please do, I’ll get the pie.

**********************************

I took it twice, no suprises, howcum I remain so feckin consistent
for someone so *unstable*? Anyways, Personality Disorder Test Results In:

87% Histrionic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111!!

Paranoid |||||||||||| 42%

Schizoid |||||||||| 38%

Schizotypal |||||||||||||||| 66%

Antisocial |||||||||||||| 54%

Borderline |||||||||||| 50%

Histrionic! |||||||||||||||||||| 87%

Narcissistic |||||||||||||||| 66%

Avoidant |||||||||||| 50%

Dependent |||||| 26%

Obsessive-Compulsive |||||| 26%

Now to hit a few medsites for the knowledge papers. Let’s start with BehaveNet:

“Individuals with this Cluster B Personality Disorder exaggerate their emotions and go to excessive lengths to seek attention.”

My lover, Sam Vaknin at Suite 101:

“The Histrionic’s attention-seeking is usually confined to sexual conquests and displays of the histrionic’s capacity to irresistibly seduce others. “

Affects:

Exaggerated, shallow emotions; enthusiasm, anger, boredom (Millon, pg. 158).

Hysteria; sadness, jealousy, disappointment, fear, boredom (Stone) (Briquet, pg. 318).

Behaviors:

Overly dramatic, reactive, and intensely expressed behavior; strident and superficial emotionality, emotional storms, theatricality, constant attention-seeking, sexually seductive behavior, exhibitionism, demandingness, histrionics, intolerance of inactivity, submissiveness, eagerness to please, ruthless willfulness, affectation (Chodoff, pp. 2727-2728 Millon, pp. 138, 140).

Emotional manipulation, seductiveness; demands for constant attention; cravings for novelty, stimulation, and excitement; suicide gestures and threats (American Psychiatric Association, pg. 656).

Bombast.

“Bombast?”

Who uses words like “bombast”? You been hangin around us way too long, thief.

Associated Disorders:

(American Psychiatric Association, pg. 656):
Somatization Disorder (got it!)
Conversion Disorder, (been there!)
Major Depressive Disorder (and it’s all your fault!)

From 4 Degrees, a non-academic regular joe view:

“People with histrionic personality disorder are constant attention seekers. They need to be the center of attention all the time, often interrupting others in order to dominate the conversation. They use grandiose language to discribe everyday events and seek constant praise. They may dress provacatively or exaggerate illnesses in order to gain attention. They are often manipulative. They also tend to exaggerate friendships and relationships, believing that everyone loves them.”

“Everyone”? But that would include you! I tend to believe you loathe people with HPD, surely you don’t call this love! And think “Spellcheck” next time you appoint yourself gatekeeper of the correct and proper, you foolish, ridiculous little boy clown, No pie for you!

Mental Health Matters:

Histrionic Personality Disorder is characterized by a person who is always calling attention to herself and being overly dramatic. They easily become bored with normal routines, and crave new, novel situations and excitement. In relationships, they form bonds quickly, but the relationships are often shallow, with the person demanding increasing amounts of attention.

“The inordinate and demanding dependency displayed by many of these patients plays so important a role in hysterical psychopathology as to constitute a kind of organizing principle for many of the other features, which can be seen as distorted efforts to gratify dependency or as defensive reactions to its presence.” (Chodoff, pg. 2727).

Finally, plain English! No impressionistic speaker, you! May I call you Mr. Completely?
Please, you must eat my pie!

Personality Typologies:

High Openness:

Lack of practicality; eccentric thinking (e.g., belief in ghosts, reincarnation, UFOs); diffuse identity and changing goals: for example, joining religious cult; susceptibility to nightmares and states of altered consciousness; social rebelliousness and nonconformity that can interfere with social or vocational advancement, marked preoccupation with fantasy and daydreaming;

High Agreeableness:

Gullibility: indiscriminate trust of others; excessive candor and generosity, to detriment of self-interest; inability to stand up to others and fight back; easily taken advantage of.

Low Conscientiousness:

Underachievement: not fulfilling intellectual or artistic potential; poor academic performance relative to ability; disregard of rules and responsibilities can lead to trouble with the law; unable to discipline self even when required for medical reasons; personal and occupational aimlessness.

DSM IV Diagnostic criteria for 301.50 Histrionic Personality Disorder:

A pervasive pattern of excessive emotionality and attention seeking, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by five (or more) of the following:

(1) is uncomfortable in situations in which he or she is not the center of attention

(2) interaction with others is often characterized by inappropriate sexually seductive or provocative behavior

(3) displays rapidly shifting and shallow expression of emotions

(4) consistently uses physical appearance to draw attention to self

(5) has a style of speech that is excessively impressionistic and lacking in detail

(6) shows self-dramatization, theatricality, and exaggerated expression of emotion

(7) is suggestible, i.e., easily influenced by others or circumstances

(8) considers relationships to be more intimate than they actually are

“Happy Birthday, Mr. President.”

Wikidpedia:

In Psychiatry, Histrionic or hysterical personality disorder, involves a pattern of excessive emotional expression and attention-seeking, including an excessive need for approval and inappropriate seductiveness.

These individuals are lively, dramatic, enthusiastic, and flirtatious. They may be inappropriately sexually provocative, express strong emotions with an impressionistic style, and be easily influenced by others.

It occurs more frequently in women than in men.

© The Royal College of Psychiatrists :

It has been claimed that the diagnosis of histrionic personality disorder is inherently sexist. To estimate the extent to which psychiatrists are influenced by sexist prejudice in their judgements about self-dramatization (the central trait in the histrionic cluster), we conducted a study in which male and female subjects rated the degree of self-dramatization portrayed in videotaped vignettes.

You rock! More studies on the absence of male histrionics! Since we know there’s no such thing as nancy boys, homosexuals, male movie stars, male politicians, no John Lennon, Kurt Cobain and never no demanding, dependent, self-infatuated, ever needy and truly greedy under-achieving but strangely world-famous and quintessential Y chromosome Drama Queens!!!!111!!1

Like a laughing hyena run out of breath
I shot my rocks off ’til there’s nothing left
It’s an old old story I suppose
A heavy price for a heavy pose

Take care of me
Take care of me
Somebody should
I’m pretty good

Personality Typologies:

Iteology of disorder, Childhood:

Inconsistent parenting style: alternation between insensitive non-involvement and rewards for exhibitionist behavior.

Hows that for an afterthought? Blame the family? You must be out of your mind. Female madmen say the darndest things!

It is too late now
Because you’re not there
Payin’ attention
Payin’ attention
Payin’ attention
Payin’ attention
I needed attention
Yeah, I needed attention