The Drama Mama: Do YOU Know One?

ETA:   I can’t believe how many emails this post has inspired.  So many of you have had your very own Drama Mama experiences.

According to the emails received, one of the best skills to incorporate when dealing with a Drama Mama is the ability to roll your eyes, and consider the source.

I couldn’t agree more.

Have you ever played the game where one person whispers something to you, and you then whisper it to someone else, who whispers it to yet another until the message makes it way back to it’s creator, bearing absolutely no resemblance to what had been said in the first place?

In my mind that’s kinda how I perceive The Drama Mama. She has the unique ability to twist and turn her words just so. This redesigning of what was originally said, or often what never even happened in the first place shocks people just enough to get them wondering.

Especially skilled Drama Mama’s may get you wondering about a person who you’ve known for years, or know in your heart of hearts really would have never done such a thing.

But, because you want to be a good friend, and can’t believe anyone would lie about such a thing, the Drama Mama lures you into believing her.

It’s an honest mistake. We all want to support each other. And for many that includes believing even the improbable, or worse.

But I’d like to point out one thing about Drama Mama’s:

They always have some sort of drama going on in their lives. It usually starts out small, and then just. keeps. building, with never an end or solution in sight.

You may have found yourself thinking this very thought, but then guiltily try and shove down what feels like betrayal to your friend who has been through so very much.

And this is what keeps The Drama Mama in business.

Somebody who is always surrounded by the fantastic, only happens to one in a million people, but happens to them like clockwork, on an ever escalating scale, may indeed be a Drama Mama.

A person who is simply so unhappy in their life that they have to create drama to provide themselves with a reason to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

Some Drama Mama’s are harmless. They may be extroverts looking for a way to gander some attention. Their drama usually revolves around their own lives and is often self depreciating, contained only to themselves.

Others subscribe to the idea that their misery is at it’s finest when deliberately flung (but with masterfully feigned, incredulous woe ) at others.

The attention received from that kind of drama quickly becomes addictive, with more and more over the top drama needed to maintain the fix…….and The Drama Mama’s audience.

Sound like someone you know? Could be. Most of us have had a run in with a DM or two in our lifetimes. It happens. Life catches you off guard and you find you have unintentionally left yourself wide open.

I ‘d like to suggest that we all be proactive when it comes to Drama Mama’s. If it seems too fantastic to be true, if something in your heart is telling you that what you are being told simply doesn’t feel quite right, stop and listen.

And this isn’t to say that I am perfect in this kind of situation. Far from it. But one thing I have absolutely learned is to give the person in question the benefit of the doubt. Reserve the right to make your own decision based on the experiences you, yourself have had with the person in question.

Without a supportive audience, a Drama Mama quickly dries up and blows away.

Leaving the actual truth in her wake.

Often surprising and embarrassing many who were unwittingly deceived.

And if you don’t believe that, you may want to look at the history of your Drama Mama, and who she has added to her pile of casualties. How many of her former friends have found their way into her path of destruction?

Because one thing I can absolutely promise you; you never know when it may be YOUR butt the Drama Mama pins her target to next.