Here are seven toxic signs of someone with a drama addiction:
1. They have a sense of urgency.
When they have no urgency to do things they start to feel bad. So, to reinforce the urgency, they create a life filled with commitments, projects and deadlines.
Even ordinary things are imbued with this intensity, and the simplest tasks seem burdensome.
2. They use exaggerated language.
They may try to get your attention by adding escalating words ("extremely bad" vs. "bad") or metaphors.
And, just to make sure you're paying attention, they'll accompany it with dramatic gestures and facial expressions.
3. We want to be the center of attention.
People with a penchant for drama rarely stay in the background or on the sidelines
4. They replay and retell stories with unnecessary intensity.
Retelling the same emotional story to different people allows them to vent again and again. It is common for them to add peaceful things to the original situation as well.
5. They focus on the negative or exciting elements of other people's lives.
6. They are preoccupied with (and stuck in) their history.
Like the star of any show, they need the one-way interaction of an audience—people whose only role is to bear witness to the drama.
They also like to assign roles to the rest of the cast.
7. They lack control.
Their inability to control (or predict) the outside world leads to feeling overwhelmed, helpless and victimized. This is something we all experience, but it's poignant for those with a penchant for drama.
