I don't think I've ever looked up a personality disorder in the DSM-IV or V. Well, definitely not the DSM-V, because why bother, if you've got a more accurate and sane version, in # IV? LOL
Anyhow, Histrionic Personality Disorder is no exception. I've never looked it up in my diagnostic manual or researched it. So, what you're about to read here, may be pure horseshit, because it emanates solely from my own perceptions, observances and clinical and interpersonal experiences. Hang on tight, 'cause here it comes.
Thus far, here are some of the symptoms I've learned experientially (is there really another way?) about Histrionic Personality Disorder:
First, it's my opinion that ALL "personality disorders" sit under the same umbrella more broadly referred to as Borderline Personality Disorder. In short, if one's symptoms seem anomalous to ya, it's a sure-fire bet they have BPD traits (at the very least).
"Histrionic" types catastrophize. A LOT. This is the type of person who always makes mountains out of molehills. Even minor events spawn a dramatic reaction in em. They may even come across to you as OVERLY sympathetic, if you relate a slight setback or upset that YOU aren't in the least, distressed about.
The histrionic mother is over-protective and (therefore) hyper-controlling of her children. When they get hurt or become ill, any mother who has HPD becomes frantic and hysterical. She might blame the child for getting sick ("I told you never to go outside without a sweater!" OR, "didn't I tell you not to climb trees, or go too far from home?").
The mother's predictably hysterical nature forces her child to try to minimize his injuries or sickness for the sake of Mother's tenuous stability, and ward off her proclivity for making HIS PAIN FAR WORSE by becoming morose, overly emotional and reactive, and downright frantic about it! (Ask a child to do a grown woman's job of caring for a sick or injured child, and this is the customary result.) The child of a histrionic woman learns very early to bury his need for care and nurturance, and becomes a non-needing child.
Histrionics thrive on drama and chaos. They'll tell you they don't, and that upsets are very painful for them, but their dramatic reactions to even the smallest occurrence feels enlivening to em, so they stick with emotional upheaval for the payoff that's produced inside em.
Histrionics magnify the slightest disappointment or annoyance, by turning it into a catastrophic event. World War III could erupt from you forgetting to put the toilet seat back down in the middle of the night.
Often, the Histrionic will react with an inappropriate emotional response to a given situation. They may CRY, when they feel really upset, frustrated or angry. Actress, Alyssa Milano has become notorious for pitiful, weepy responses to frustrated feelings and anger over abortion rights (of all things). Lame-steam media eats it up and broadcasts these episodes, while confirming to the rest of us, how deeply imbalanced this dame is.
Maxine Waters is another one, whom you'd think is old enough to know better, but she's politically toxic toward (dare I say it?) WHITE PEOPLE, and spews her venomous vitriol every chance she gets, to incite fringe groups to burn, pillage and even kill anyone who doesn't agree with her 'blackness at any cost' ideologies.
Histrionics often CRY, rather than rage. They've learned how much attention and sympathy it gets em, so they keep doing it. This of course, added to the very real fact that someone who's emotionally 3 years old, finds it impossible to articulate anything even remotely approaching intricate feelings.