What would a low functioning histrionic be like?

Low functioning borderlines are borderlines who cannot hold down jobs or anything because of constant hospitalizations or things of that nature. High functioning borderlines see more relationship/familial problems and so on. I'm not saying functioning means craftiness or intelligence, which I've found is a common misconception.

What would a histrionic be like whose life is incredibly out of control because of their disorder? I don't want to hear about how the high functioning life is still out of control; I know that it is. What I mean is, what is the histrionic like who has built up such a reputation that they can't even build relationships to destroy? How is their life just as out of control as the low functioning borderline? (not said from a competitive stance, just for ease of comparison.)

A histrionic my therapist references off and on, is in her mid thirties and can't get anyone to make plans with her because whenever they go out she causes a scene in the middle of the store or wherever it is they may be. She's unpredictable and rarely comes to appointments. Is that a low functioning histrionic?

I'm not sure where I fall on the global scale of functioning. I have destroyed relationships, but I have relationships left. I am bored when there is no tension in the air, but I don't have temper tantrums often at all.

Read The Biography on Edie Sedgewick. She is the ultimate histrionic. Charming, child-woman, center of attention, free spirit etc. Her life spirals out of control and she dies.

I guess it depends what you mean by out of control. That could be measured in say the ability to survive day to day (i.e., roof over one's head, food, necessities, etc.). I suppose in the worst case someone with HPD would have trouble keeping various types of jobs, for example, a female with this disorder could find it hard to work with other females, both due to the ego-threat other females represent, but also that many women want to compete based on their skills, not based on sexually provocative favoritism. Depending on who the boss is, who has the power to hire/fire, and how immune or swayed they are by female attention, I suppose I could imagine someone with HPD having trouble keeping a job, and thus the minimum necessary to survive. Still, there are plenty of jobs where the histrionic type could work, and even be successful.

If she/he is using drugs, including alcohol, that could of course have a negative impact, but it's not just people with HPD who are prone to become drug users.

If someone is attractive, perhaps more so females, there are also opportunities to marry or otherwise be sustained in exchange for attention/sex. I guess it depends if the HPD aspect is co-morbid with BPD traits as the later is more likely to have emotional melt-downs in public, while the former is more likely to keep depression under control, though dramatics can still interfere with day to day relationships (yes, I'm simplifying and stereotyping).

I am curious why you ask?

I have witnessed the actions of two low functioning people with HPD, who may or may not have had elements of BPD and other disorders in their personalities as well. One was an older woman in her sixties, who dressed in a garish manner, with ill applied make up. She was hospitalised and would pull up her skirt and try to seduce the medical staff in a very obvious manner. Her attention seeking tactics were very extreme, to the point where she would shout in the street,causing scenes to attract attention, phone the emergency services for very minor matters, and try to solicit passing motorists, but not for prostitution. The other person was in her thirties and she led a very chaotic life, moving house frequently, putting herself in danger by sleeping with violent men, allowing herself to be coerced into illegal activities, making various suicide attempts but always alerting the emergency services, alienating friends to the point where she became almost completely isolated, lying to everyone she met, and engaging in petty crimes. I think she was co morbid and had other mental health issues going on. These two people were very extreme, and many people with HPD are at least mainly functional,until it comes to relationships.

Once had a job guarding prisoners. ^ Masq's account reminded me of a woman, supposedly a former prostitute who was also addicted to stimulants, who had also been convicted of threatening a very high government official, and had also assaulted various prison personnel.
While in custody, she used to expose herself, supposedly offering herself up for sex. The other guards said she was just acting crazy just to stay in the heath care facility instead of going back to jail, but looking back now I wonder how much histrionic pathology might have been involved.

IMO low functioning HPD would involve lots of dissociation - amnesia, reverting to childhood states (Millon's Infantile HPD subtype?), feelings of being alienated from the body, depression, unexplained absences and unexplained periods of inactivity, extreme attention-getting behavior like shouting, loud laughter, and satellite features:
significant gaps in work history, a work history of intermittent low-paying jobs (i.e, low pay stripping), illegal drug or alcohol use, petty to moderate non-violent crimes like theft or check fraud, abusive relationships with violent ASPD individuals, domestic violence in general, participation in extreme sado-masochistic sex, unplanned, casual pregnancies, and perhaps occasional violent and sexual abuse of children and significant others via transfer and projection.

In other words, very similar to low-functioning BPD, but in place of (or next to) the BPD focus on not being abandoned, the more refined HPD need for attention. Low-functioning HPDs are probably more emotionally labile - prone to explosive episodes when they aren't receiving supply attention (Millon's Tempestuous?)
I have heard of probable HPD women who were more functional in terms of employment and lifestyle, but nevertheless whose symptoms were heavy: for example either on their own or in marriage, they refuse to have children because it might wreck their figures...where severe HPD overlaps with NPD?

What would a low functioning histrionic be like? >>> BPD/HPD

I know both kinds. But I just want to preface this by saying both of these people are charming and likeable on the surface. I feel I slagged my former hpd 'friend' and co-worker in another post because I do believe the blunt advice would maybe help someone detach from someone suffering this. So here are the basic profiles in these two individuals.

Low-functioning.
Addicted to painkillers and vodka for years. Broke and unemployed. A fashionista who loves to spend money looking good. No one in her family will help her any more or having anything to do with her. Everyone has begged her to get help, but she won't. She tells my sister, her only friend who is codependent in general that she will kill herself if she breaks off the friendship. Over the years, my sister has tried to get away, but now has accepted she loves this person and can tolerate being hooked in because she lives 2,000 miles away, and she has stronger boundaries now. This poor woman says she knows she will die of her bad habits someday. I knew her when she lived in my town and I really liked her, but I could never have anything to do with her.

High-functioning.
My co-worker. She makes documentaries outside of what we do at work. She is very smart. She is cheerful, vivacious, entertaining and intoxicating at times, and also theatrical. Everything is larger than life. She shows up late, slips away for breaks without telling anyone when she'll return and takes long lunch breaks and makes sure she calls in sick now and then. We get paid for sick days. I just accept that she is child-like and never call on her to do much work. We work in a three-person team, so I just pretend there are two of us and keep very busy in order to keep my sanity.