The Drama Queen

Dear Dr. LeCrone:

I’m a member of a small organization that operates by crisis management, and everything is a crisis. A day never goes by without some sort of upheaval within the company, which is very stressful to the employees and greatly reduces efficiency and productivity.

Several of us, all managers, have begun to connect the dots in this pattern of chaos and have come to the conclusion that the CEO subtly causes these outbursts because it puts her at the center of attention and gives her a chance to come to the rescue in an often outrageously expressive manner.

She also dresses provocatively, is very flirtatious, and talks constantly but says nothing. She recently inherited the company and without her employees’ continued assistance, the company will fold.

A former employee told me that our “drama queen” suffers from something called histrionic personality disorder. Please discuss this in your newspaper column.

-A reader in New York

Dear Reader:

Although I would encourage you to avoid trying to diagnose or over-label your employer, I sympathize with your situation.

Men and women with histrionic personality disorders live in an exaggerated emotional world, demanding attention to give meaning to their lives. Often seen as fake or shallow, they experience a blur between fantasy and reality, especially when under stress.

The Diagnostic and Statistical manual of Mental Disorders describes the histrionic personality disorder in the following manner: A pervasive pattern of excessive emotionality and attention seeking that begins by early adulthood and is present in a variety of contexts that are indicated by five (or more) of the following:

•They are uncomfortable in situations when not the center of attention.

•Their interaction with others is often characterized by inappropriate, sexually seductive or provocative behavior.

•They are prone to exhibit shallow expressions of emotion, which shift rapidly.

•They often use physical appearance to get attention.

•Their style of speech is frequently impressionistic and shallow.

•They display self-dramatization, theatricality and exaggerated expression of emotion.

•They are very suggestible and easily influenced by others or situations.

•They often overestimate intimacy in relationships.

Psychotherapy is usually the treatment of choice.

An excellent resources for understanding more about this disorder is: The New Personality Self-Portrait: Why You Think, Work, Love and Act the Way You Do by John M. Oldham and Lois B. Morris.