Histrionic personality disorder falls into the cluster B grouping of personality disorders. Cluster B refers to the group of personality disorders that share the characteristics of being dramatic, emotional or erratic. And the personality disorders that fit in this group are antisocial, borderline, histrionic and narcissistic.
Typically people don’t fit neatly into one personality disorder. It’s more common for someone to have a mixture of traits from the different disorders particularly the ones that are within the same cluster.
Keep in mind personality disorders start in the late teen years to early adulthood. It’s not something that shows up for the first time at 30. Also, you can have some of these personality traits without having the full disorder. Personality disorders cause problems that manifest mostly through relationships. But it can also cause internal distress and unhappiness.
Here is the criteria for histrionic personality disorder:
Histrionic personality disorder is A 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. Your interactions are often sexually seductive or provocative.
3. Displays rapidly shifting and shallow expression of emotions.
4. Consistently uses physical appearance to draw attention to yourself.
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 or easily influenced by others or circumstances.
8. Consider relationships to be more intimate than they actually are.
