In this instructional video, Dr. Jameca Cooper outlines three observable behaviors that can help identify a person who may have histrionic personality disorder. First, she describes dramatic and provocative dressing—clothing that is loud, out‑of‑season, overly revealing, or otherwise designed to draw attention and stand out from the crowd. Second, she highlights an excessive need for attention, illustrated by how the individual constantly redirects conversations back to themselves, even in group settings. Third, she points out dramatic displays of emotion, where reactions are exaggerated, loud, and often accompanied by flamboyant actions such as dancing or theatrical laughter. Dr. Cooper emphasizes that while one or two of these signs alone may not be diagnostic, the consistent presence of all three (and additional related behaviors) strongly suggests histrionic personality disorder. She concludes by encouraging viewers to subscribe for more mental‑health content.
Chapters
Hi, I'm Dr. Jameca Cooper, and today I want to tell you 3 different ways for you to use to spot a person with histrionic personality disorder. I know I've said this in lots of my other videos, but I want to make sure you pay attention to these things because these are going to be the signs for you to be able to say, hey, is this person suffering from this based on these symptoms or criteria? First, make sure you subscribe to the channel. Make sure you watch the other videos about personality disorders, reality TV, and a little bit of everything. So 3 different ways to spot a histrionic person. The one way that I tell people all the time is look at how they're dressed. What you'll be looking for are things like dramatic and provocative dressing, clothing. What would they wear? So instead of wearing a a simple denim skirt if they were a female, they might wear a denim skirt with diamonds on it and fur in a very loud color. In other words, their dress is going to be consistent with the person who's trying to make you look at them. They're not trying to blend into the crowd. They're trying to wear something that's going to make people go, hey, what is that? That's what they want to do. That's the, the whole attempt here with their dressing. So it could be something out of season they might wear. So instead of wearing a sweater or a long sleeve dress, they might wear something summery in the wintertime, something shorter, thinner, more revealing if they were a woman. If we're looking at a man, there— those would definitely be the type of clothing that would be inappropriate for whatever the occasion or the location is. So think about what's appropriate and what's not when you're thinking about some of these, um, signs, some of these red flags. So another way to spot a histrionic person is need for attention. How much do they need attention? You can tell if you're having a conversation with someone, especially if you're having a conversation with say 2 or 3 other people, how often is the person gonna reel the conversation back into themselves? So whatever you're talking about, you're talking about, "Hey, I had a tomato garden," and this person's gonna, "Hey, I know someone who had a tomato garden." If you talk about, "Oh, I just got a new pair of shoes," "Well, I just got a new pair of shoes last week." How many times, how consistently are they always trying to bring the conversation back around to themselves? That's going to be a major, major, major sign to look for if you're trying to spot a person who suffers from histrionic personality disorder. And what is the third thing? The third thing, the very, very big thing that you need to pay attention to is dramatic displays of emotion. This can be quite overwhelming for people who are around. For some people, it doesn't really bother them much, but what is a dramatic display of emotion? Dramatic means everything is extra. So they— you're at a restaurant, you order a meal and a drink, maybe a cocktail. They get their drink and it's, oh my God, I can't believe this, this is so great. Everything is so great. Everything is so much more than it would be with a normal individual. It's going to be attention-seeking. In the response, in the behavior, and the emotion is going to be loud. Perhaps it's going to be different. It may involve dancing, music, laughter, things that are going to make other people look at them. So that is the third thing that I'm giving to you today: dramatic displays of emotion. If you notice a person that is in your circle or around you that has these type of behaviors, you can probably bet some money that it's likely that they suffer from histrionic personality disorder, because when a person has all of these different things together, it usually means something. One or two of these things here and there sometimes doesn't really mean anything, but all three plus others all the time definitely means something. These are the people that you want to keep your eye on. So again, these are my 3 tips for how to spot a person with histrionics. Make sure you subscribe to this channel for tips on mental health, personality disorders, as well as reality TV and a little bit of everything. Thanks for tuning in. I'm Dr. Jameca Cooper.
