How To Not Let Drama Control Your Work and Life

Dealing with others’ need for drama in a healthy way

Pamela Hazelton
The Work + Life Balance

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A woman stands with her arms wide open. She’s looking at a calming landscape of water and greenery.
Photo by gajus — licensed via Freepik premium

Drama is one of the biggest stress inducers, yet millions of people embrace it — some even look for it — daily. Don’t believe me? Just open your favorite social media network and start reading.

After declaring 2021 as the year of self, I dug deeper to keep the resolutions I set. Nothing sticks out more prominently than the quest to experience less drama.

While at home, at work, and out with friends, triggers surround us. How we deal with it is dependent upon our personality type. Ignoring one’s need for drama (NFD) comes easily to some; my husband has never lent others’ issues any weight. For others, denying it is a learned trait.

For years, I was the one who didn’t hesitate to soak up drama kings’ and queens’ stories, hoping to find a way to help. But since committing to putting myself first, I’ve been finding ways to work around others’ bursting needs for attention.

The need to create or inject oneself in drama cannot always be defined merely as a personality flaw. It may stem from histrionic personality disorder (HPD), which empowers sufferers to use superior social skills to manipulate others. People with HPD experience an intense desire to be noticed and will often act…

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Pamela Hazelton
The Work + Life Balance

Avid writer, marketer & business consultant. // Reward yourself a little every day. 🆆🅾🆁🅺 + 🅻🅸🅵🅴 🅱🅰🅻🅰🅽🅲🅴