Jealous delusions result from a mental health condition called delusional jealousy, which itself has connections to other mental conditions, like schizophrenia, anxiety disorders, and personality disorders.
Measures of jealousy
As we described above, delusional jealousy is a psychiatric phenomenon in which an individual has a delusional belief that their spouse (or sexual partner) is being unfaithful [6]. It is also known as morbid jealousy, pathological jealousy, conjugal paranoia, or Othello syndrome [6].
Causes: Where Does Jealousy Come From? Feelings of jealousy often come from extended periods of poor or lack of communication and low self-esteem. People with poor boundaries might experience jealousy, and witnessing parents with poor boundaries usually reinforces maladaptive ways of coping.
If you're the target of jealousy, you may feel like someone (usually a partner or friend) is trying to control your life. They might do things such as check up on you, try to tell you what to do (or not do) and how to act, or limit your contact with friends and coworkers.
Why do we feel jealousy? Therapists often regard the demon as a scar of childhood trauma or a symptom of a psychological problem.
Although an individual may present with morbid jealousy, the underlying psychiatric problems may show major illnesses like bipolar mania in up to 15% and schizophrenia 20%, among other diagnoses like depression and alcohol-related disorders. Morbid jealousy may not only be delusional, but also obsessional in nature.
Jealousy is a normal and human emotion. However, the manner in which a person acts on the emotion may speak to his or her narcissistic tendencies. A person who recognizes the emotion and attempts to understand it may be able to act upon the feeling constructively.
Psychotherapy is often an effective treatment for jealousy. A person who experiences jealousy might benefit from working with a therapist to process painful emotions and reframe negative, damaging thoughts that affect their behavior.
Jealousy is a prominent feature for those with Narcissistic Personality Disorder and Borderline Personality Disorder (NPD and BPD).
Successful treatment of pathological jealousy by pimozide was first reported by Dorian [9]. Since then three other reports [3, 7, 8] have been published and in all of them the response to pimozide was excellent, as was observed in our patient.
Plasma testosterone and cortisol concentrations were higher during the jealousy condition. During the jealousy condition, duration of time spent looking across at the pair mate next to a stranger male was associated with higher plasma cortisol concentrations.
Psychodynamic therapy
This type of therapy is focused on exploring unconscious thoughts and feelings that may be contributing to jealousy. A psychodynamic therapist might help an individual identify patterns from childhood experiences or past relationships that are influencing their current feelings of jealousy.
Negative, anxious thoughts in relationships cause worries about the relationship, what-ifs, worst-case scenarios, and dread. These manifest as jealousy, anger, distrust, and paranoia.
“Envy and jealousy are aspects of ego and we all have egos as part of the human condition,” explains psychotherapist and author Joyce Marter, LCPC.
The definition of the word jealousy in the Bible means this. Jealousy at its heart is discontent and selfishness. It also carries with it, envy.
Unsurprisingly, studies have shown that increased jealousy correlates with lower self-esteem.
Those who are affected by Othello syndrome experience obsessive, intrusive, and/or delusional thoughts, particularly about their partner's imagined cheating. Obsessive thoughts are those which are recognizably unreal but prompt a compulsive response, such as constantly contacting the suspected romantic partner.
Manic symptoms can include increased energy, excitement, impulsive behaviour, and agitation. Depressive symptoms can include lack of energy, feeling worthless, low self-esteem and suicidal thoughts. You can also have psychotic symptoms.
Overthinking, Rumination & Bipolar Disorder
Most people overthink decisions or second-guess choices they've made at one time or another but when you have bipolar disorder, it can feel like you're on a hamster wheel without any signs of a slow down or an end in sight.
Feeling jealous is a signal that someone else might be putting a relationship you have and rely on at risk — and you may need to do something about it to either save that relationship or find what you're getting out of that relationship somewhere else. “Jealousy is hard-wired in all of us,” Jalal says.
The emotion of jealousy is a derivative of shame. It informs us of an obstacle to the connection between ourselves and a loved one, alerting us to a threat to the relationship. The potential disconnection experienced in jealousy often involves a social comparison.
You don't have to obey your jealous feelings and thoughts.
Accept that you can have an emotion — and allow it to be. You don't have to “get rid of the feeling.” We have found that mindfully standing back and observing that an emotion is there can often lead to the feeling weakening on its own.