The Drama Queen

A particular creature unveils itself to emergency health care occasionally. Predominantly it comes in the form of a female, of no particular age.

An incident occurs, usually a fight or break up with a husband or boyfriend. This sets off a chain of events that leads to the presentation at hospital or the calling for ambulance services.

There was one such incident the other night. An 18-year-old girl had just been dumped by her boyfriend. Being swept up in the emotion of it all she proceeded to refuse to eat for three days. Her parents called for an ambulance (when perhaps she needed a psychologist) and all were whisked off to hospital. The parents appeared distraught when they were sent to the waiting room until a doctor could see them.

There is a reason why such cases don’t receive much sympathy from health care workers. It is because these people are drama queens and are manipulating those around them to feel sorry for them. This is apart from the irrational outbursts of emotion. Parents or former partners are sucked into the performance and made to feel guilty for what is going on because generally they are decent people. When really all they need is a dose of tough love and a reality check. Sure, be hurt but don’t be ridiculous. Believe me, we’ve all been there, done that.

The drama queen never seems to consider that it may have been such acts of irrational behaviour that led to the break up or argument in the first place. This latest course of action can merely justify the break up. Instead the guilt-ridden dumper may be led to continuing the relationship, as it was before, unknowing that the manipulating behaviour has now been given positive reinforcement. This will only lead to more drama and an even harder break up in the future.