histrionic personality disorder

personality disorder characterized by excessive emotionality and attention-seeking

Key facts

Specialty: Clinical psychology , psychiatry
Symptoms: Persistent attention seeking , dramatic behavior , rapidly shifting and shallow emotions, sexually provocative behavior, undetailed style of speech , and a tendency to consider relationships more intimate than they actually are
Usual onset: Symptoms typically do not fully develop until late teens or early 20s
Duration: Lifelong
Causes: Authoritarian parenting , highly responsive noradrenergic systems, genetics , childhood trauma
Diagnostic method: Based on symptoms
Differential diagnosis: Other personality disorders , particularly borderline and narcissistic types; bipolar disorder ; personality change due to another medical condition ; symptoms stemming from substance use disorders ; illness anxiety disorder ; and somatic symptom disorder
Treatment: Functional analytic psychotherapy , functional ideographic assessment template, and coding client and therapist behaviors

via Wikipedia infobox

Article

Histrionic personality disorder (HPD) is a personality disorder characterized by a pattern of excessive attention-seeking behaviors, usually beginning in adolescence or early adulthood, including inappropriate seduction and an excessive desire for approval.

People with HPD have a high desire for attention, make loud and inappropriate appearances, exaggerate their behaviors and emotions, and crave stimulation. They very often exhibit pervasive and persistent sexually provocative behavior, express strong emotions with an impressionistic style, and can be easily influenced by others. Associated features can include egocentrism, self-indulgence, continuous longing for appreciation, and persistent manipulative behavior to achieve their own wants.