April 29, 2022 – Amid the general attention this month to actor Johnny Depp’s $50 million lawsuit in opposition to ex-wife Amber Heard, a psychological term has entered the general public’s lexicon: histrionic persona disorder.
Depp says that an op-ed Heard wrote in 2018 harm his profession, and he’s suing for defamation.
The term used to be broken-down in court at some level of the testimony of Shannon Curry, PsyD, a clinical and forensic psychologist in California and Hawaii, who utilized a psychological evaluate of Heard and said that she met with Heard for 12 hours.
Curry testified that Heard has both borderline persona disorder and histrionic persona disorder. Heard has said she has posttraumatic stress disorder.
On account of her situation, Heard is terribly furious about image, susceptible to cruelty and blaming others, and unable to confess responsibility for doing something erroneous, Curry testified, as reported in Newsweek.
So what exactly is histrionic persona disorder, and how does it differ from the numerous, better-recognized persona disorders, equivalent to paranoid, narcissistic, or obsessive-compulsive?
Histrionic persona disorder – histrionic draw overly theatrical or melodramatic – tends to be extra fashioned in females, could also be learned or inherited, and comes with “intense, unstable feelings and distorted self-photography,” in accordance to the Cleveland Health center.
And these with the disorder are inclined to behave dramatically, count on various folk’s approval to bolster their self-adore, and indulge in an “overwhelming have to be noticed.”
Histrionic persona disorder is worthy much less repeatedly diagnosed than narcissistic or borderline persona disorder, says Jessica January Behr, PsyD, a certified psychologist in Fresh York Metropolis.
“The criteria for the disorder is doubtlessly worthy extra repeatedly viewed than diagnosed,” she says. “To diagnose somebody with histrionic persona disorder, an particular person has to fulfill 5 out of 9 very explicit requirements.”
These 9 requirements consist of being sad except you’re the center of attention, your feelings shifting hastily, acting very dramatically – as even though performing sooner than an viewers – with exaggerated feelings and expressions yet appearing to lack sincerity, and consistently searching for reassurance or approval, in accordance to the Cleveland Health center.
Within the ruin, this disorder is a excessive one, and the label shouldn’t be broken-down except a mental smartly being knowledgeable who has evaluated you and performed certain diagnostic checks confirms it.
For treatment, folk with the disorder will in most cases see counseling to point out the motivations and fears connected to their thoughts and behavior, and the counselor will abet the person learn to point out to others in a extra optimistic intention.
A smartly being care expert could prescribe medication to address the depression and dismay that assuredly attain with this disorder, in accordance to the Cleveland Health center.
“It’s staunch that folks are studying about this psychological term, nonetheless it completely’s critical to end away from making an armchair diagnosis,” Behr says. “We also have to peaceful watch out now to not conflate ‘dramatic’ and ‘histrionic.’ To indulge in histrionic persona disorder requires certain requirements to be met, and this isn’t a term to be broken-down evenly.”
