I've been wondering how you create a Drama Queen. You know, the people who blow things completely out of proportion to the point of absolute hysteria? Everything is a big deal and they reach out and suck other people into their drama. But why?
Looking at family dynamics can be really interesting. When I look at the parents of drama queens I often see two possible factors.
If the parent is seriously narcissistic they may have children who are drama queens. I think this happens because the parent is so completely absorbed with themselves, the child cannot get the attention they need unless they elevate it to the level of an emergency. For instance, if the child merely says, "My throat hurts" or "I'm hot" it may not be enough to get the parent's attention off themselves long enough to get the care they need. So they learn to escalate their description of what is happening to the highest level to start with because anything less provokes no response at all.
A second factor may be substance abuse. I've seen overly dramatic children who act that way as a result of living with a parent who is heavily medicated or intoxicated. They have to elevate their behavior to crisis level before the parent, who is in a stupor, will be raised to a level of arousal where they will respond.
If this is true, drama queens are not necessarily being dramatic as a manipulation. They learned at an early age that they had to get this agitated and elevate things to a major crisis level before they would get a reaction from the self-absorbed and heavily sedated parent.
It's just a theory, mind you. I'm watching to see if it pans out. Tell me what you think.