According to the DSM-IV, none of the personality disorders, except the narcissistic personality, is formally associated with envy. Nevertheless, this "deadly sin" is so omnipresent in human relationships that it cannot be restricted only to the narcissistic personalities.
Envy is often rooted in low self-esteem – sometimes from very early unmet childhood needs where the person feels inherently not good enough. An envious person may frequently 'compare and despair' and find themselves wanting.
Pathological envy and jealousy are generally considered delusional disorders due to the individual's distorted perception of the subject of their envy or jealousy. People who live with delusional disorders can be a danger to themselves or others and may need the support of a mental health professional.
Pathological jealousy, also known as morbid jealousy, Othello syndrome or delusional jealousy, is a psychological disorder in which a person is preoccupied with the thought that their spouse or sexual partner is being unfaithful without having any real proof, along with socially unacceptable or abnormal behaviour ...
Jealousy is a prominent feature for those with Narcissistic Personality Disorder and Borderline Personality Disorder (NPD and BPD).
Learn About Borderline Personality Disorder
These individuals often report feeling that emotions control their lives or even that they feel things more intensely than other people. In close relationships, a person with BPD may appear jealous, possessive, or hyper-reactive.
In Borderline Personality Disorder, the root of envy stems from having a fluid, rapidly-shifting, unstable sense of self. Sufferers of BPD often envy people who display a certain confidence–or even rigidity–in how they present themselves to the world.
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].
The root causes of jealousy and envy are connected to a person's inability to see what God has provided in their life and a lack of thankfulness. James 3:16 states, “For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.”
People with PPD have suspicious, unforgiving, and jealous personality traits. Some doctors also believe that people with PPD have traits of excessive self-importance and hostility. PPD can occur as a standalone disorder.
In the modern psychiatric “bible” (DSM-5), the diagnostic criteria for Narcissistic Personality Disorder include, “often envious of others or believes that others are envious of him or her.”
Envy is one of the diagnostic criteria of narcissistic personality disorder. Many of you may have experienced envy from the narcissist in your life.
When bipolars become jealous, jealousy becomes magnified by the symptoms of our illnesses. We can create whole imaginary scenes about the perceived injustice. Anger and agitation caress us instead of gratitude. Remembering to practice gratitude for the real things in our lives can keep the jealous bug away.
Envious people tend to feel hostile, resentful, angry and irritable. Such individuals are also less likely to feel grateful about their positive traits and their circumstances. Envy is also related to depression, anxiety, the development of prejudice, and personal unhappiness.
In this paper I present a novel taxonomy of envy as a psychological state, according to which there are four kinds of envy: emulative, inert, aggressive and spiteful envy.
Only one third of the variation in jealousy seemed to have a genetic origin, so the rest must have been down to environmental differences. But whether genetic or environmental, hard-wired or learned, there's no doubting the ubiquity of jealousy.
Envy also, at its core, comes from the lack of belief that God is all powerful, cares about you deeply and has wonderful plans for your life. or be envious of those who do wrong; for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away.
Othello syndrome (OS) is a type of paranoid delusional jealousy, characterized by the false absolute certainty of the infidelity of a partner, leading to preoccupation with a partner's sexual unfaithfulness based on unfounded evidence (4).
Why do we feel jealousy? Therapists often regard the demon as a scar of childhood trauma or a symptom of a psychological problem. And it's true that people who feel inadequate, insecure, or overly dependent tend to be more jealous than others.
Borderline personality disorder (BPD) has long been believed to be a disorder that produces the most intense emotional pain and distress in those who have this condition. Studies have shown that borderline patients experience chronic and significant emotional suffering and mental agony.
People with borderline personality disorder have a deep fear of abandonment. They compete for social acceptance, are terrified of rejection and often feel lonely even in the context of an intimate relationship. Therefore, it is more difficult for them to manage the normal ups and downs of a romantic partnership.
People with borderline personality disorders are aware of their behaviors and the consequences of them and often act in increasingly erratic ways as a self-fulfilling prophecy to their abandonment fears.