Histrionic personality disorder is a personality disorder characterized by the need to be the center of attention, by excessively provocative attitudes and rather theatrical or dramatic gestures. Many people who are diagnosed do not believe they need to be treated and, as a result, do not receive the counseling they need. If you have also been diagnosed with this disorder, find out about the treatment to follow so that you can manage it and live a healthier and more fulfilling life.
Steps
Part 1 of 3: Resorting to Psychotherapy
Step 1. Look for a professional who uses speech therapy
If you have histrionic personality disorder, you may find this type of therapy very helpful. Since patients with histrionic personality disorder love to talk about themselves, it is often used with them. During the sessions you will discuss what you feel and think, what you believe and the experiences you have lived.
- The goal of verbal therapy is to help people become aware of the negative and distorted thoughts that govern their behavior and condition their relationships. Hence, it is a method that may prevent you from acting in an overly dramatic and emotional way.
- Typically, psychotherapy is considered the first therapeutic solution for patients with personality disorders.
Step 2. Follow solution-centered psychotherapy
Solution-focused therapy is very useful in case of histrionic personality disorder. It allows you to understand how you can solve the problems in your life and alleviate the symptoms and difficulties that depend on your psychological distress.
- During the sessions you will learn to solve your problems and make decisions in full autonomy. You will be able to overcome the need to feel saved or free yourself from victimizing attitudes by learning to face difficulties on your own. The therapist will teach you to become more assertive.
- For example, solution-centered psychotherapy can help you manage those problems that you tend to emphasize or dramatize today. It will prepare you to face obstacles with greater calm and rationality, avoiding depending on others.
Step 3. Consider Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
The goal of this form of psychotherapy is to help patients replace negative thoughts with healthier and more realistic ones. During the sessions you will learn to manage and change hostile or deleterious mental patterns. You will also be able to identify the most adverse, irrational thoughts or thoughts that affect you excessively on an emotional level.
- For example, the therapist can help you overcome the feeling of failure or inferiority compared to others, or get rid of the idea of having to emotionally depend on someone. Additionally, you will learn to spot impulsive or dramatic behaviors and change the way you act.
- The therapist can use psychodramatic techniques to teach you to interact appropriately with others in various social settings.
Step 4. Consider group therapy with caution
If you are trying to cure histrionic personality disorder, pay attention to group therapy, including family therapy. Many do not consider it effective against this psychopathology, because they fear that group sessions can trigger symptoms and cause the patient to draw all attention to himself. Others find it useful to the extent that it allows people with histrionic disorder to learn to interact with others.
- During group sessions, you may indulge your disorder to the point of dramatizing situations or emphasizing how you feel to gain support or attention from others.
- However, if you are following a psychotherapeutic path that is helping you to be more assertive, the therapist may recommend family therapy to learn how to interact and talk to the people in your life.
Part 2 of 3: Changing the Most Problematic Behaviors
Step 1. Develop your social skills
Try to improve your social skills during treatment. If you have a histrionic personality, you will likely have a hard time relating to others. Maybe you have loosened relationships with friends and family, and are unable to build important bonds.
- Instead of being self-centered, try focusing on others while following therapy. Stop being in the spotlight and draw attention to yourself.
- In other words, you need to avoid lying, stealing the show, thinking only of your interests and meeting your needs.
Step 2. Limit provocative attitudes
Another goal you should work on while treating histrionic disorder is to limit or reduce seductive and overly provocative behaviors. Those with a histrionic personality tend to dress in inappropriate hatred, flirt and seduce others to get attention.
- During the period of therapy try to limit behavior of a sexual nature. Avoid flirting and engaging in behaviors that others might find offensive, such as impressing the partners of friends or girlfriends.
- Try dressing more soberly. Start wearing clothes suitable for various social contexts (for example, choose professional clothing for work) and without excess when you go out with friends.
Step 3. Learn to control your emotions
Another thing you could do to treat histrionic disorder is to learn to control yourself emotionally. You will likely feel the overwhelming urge to dramatize or adopt theatrical ways to grab attention. With or without the help of a therapist, you can learn to recognize when emotion begins to take over.
- For example, if you feel like people aren't paying attention to you and you want to break out by making a scene, become aware of this feeling and walk away from the situation. Practice not giving in to emotions by thinking, "I don't need to put on a show or the attention of others to feel important."
- Other people can help you understand when you are acting theatrical or when you are losing control. If your behavior causes embarrassment, learn to accept what they think about your course of action and step back to reconsider the situation.
Step 4. Accept the criticism
People with histrionic personality disorder find it difficult to cope with failures and cannot accept criticism. If someone points out a mistake to him, he reacts negatively, shows himself upset or justifies himself by disapproving of the other's behavior. Try to accept criticism and treat failures as normal life incidents.
- Anyone can experience failure. Everyone makes mistakes. Being wrong does not make you a bad person or inferior to others. Start thinking this way when you are faced with failure. Tell yourself, "Just because I didn't make it doesn't mean I'm a mess" or "I'm a human being and I make mistakes. That doesn't make me unable to do what others do."
- When you receive criticism, you calmly see the situation instead of reacting impulsively by letting yourself be carried away by emotions. By reflecting calmly and rationally, you will be able to understand if it is valid and you can treasure it.
- By learning to accept criticism and failure, you will avoid reacting dramatically to life situations.
Part 3 of 3: Finding Other Treatments
Step 1. Seek help if you think you are harming or killing yourself
People with histrionic personality disorder often dramatize their situation and use threats of self-harm or suicide to gain the attention of others. However, it should be added that some people with this psychopathology actually practice self-harm and self-mutilation to attract attention. If you feel the urge to commit suicide or harm yourself, call 911 or ask a person close to you to take you to the emergency room immediately.
- You should seek the help of a loved one or a doctor even if you are expressing an intention to take your own life, but you are not actually doing this.
- See your doctor if you are trying to physically harm yourself by injuring yourself, cuts, bruising, and bleeding, or are planning an accident just to get attention.
Step 2. Treat any concomitant psychopathology
People with histrionic personality disorder can develop anxiety disorders or depression due to the unhappiness resulting from relationship problems, the feeling of inferiority and the dissatisfaction caused by boredom. During treatment, the therapist or doctor can diagnose other concomitant psychopathological conditions.
- Depression or anxiety disorders are treated with medications that are usually only prescribed for a limited period of time.
- Very often, patients with personality disorders also manifest other psychopathological conditions, such as forms of addiction, depression and mood disorders. The doctor must take into account the general framework in order to be able to outline a therapeutic path. For example, if you have an addiction, you need to detox. In other cases, you may need to undergo drug therapy to combat depression, anxiety, psychosis, or mood problems. This is the primary way of treating patients with mental health problems.
Step 3. Follow the treatment
The most common mistake in the treatment of histrionic personality disorder is that those affected by this psychopathology do not constantly follow the treatments. He goes to therapy until he gets bored, after which he stops.
- Often people with histrionic personalities invent various problems when they go to therapy. Then, once the initial enthusiasm passes, they stop following it.
- To get results and treat histrionic personality disorder correctly, you must regularly follow the entire therapeutic path.
