ARE YOU TALKING TO ME? –

July 30, 2024 –  I know what you’re thinking. These days it feels like everything is an “addiction”: video games, plastic surgery, tattooing, pornography, piercing … and now drama? Come on. I’m with you; it sounds farfetched. But unfortunately, you can be addicted to drama. It’s not as uncommon as you think. We’ve all heard the term “drama queen,” but psychologists call this maladaptive personality trait “NFD” (Need For Drama). It’s also known colloquially as being a “drama addict.”

My boyfriend and one of my best friends called me out for creating unnecessary drama and saying I was “addicted” to it. I was offended, but deep down, I knew there was some truth to the accusation. I thought that maybe it was because my life had been chaotic for so long (starting in early childhood), that drama felt like homeostasis to me—familiar, no matter how uncomfortable. After diving into the research for this article, I discovered that that’s probably part of it, but there’s more to it. Much more. “The research identifies three key components of NFD—interpersonal manipulation to control others’ behaviors and reactions or to meet a personal need or goal; impulsive, uncontrolled outspokenness (often with fabrication or exaggeration) when they share thoughts, stories, and opinions; and persistent perceived victimhood, “ writes Lesley Finlay, MFA.

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