Jealousy: the pathological jealousy disorder

A psychological disorder that arises in extremely possessive people.

When we love someone we would like that person to be with us, for his or her presence to be a more or less constant element in our lives and to make him or her happy as much as possible. The idea of losing the loved one can be hard and difficult to accept, being something that causes us discomfort.The idea of losing a loved one can be hard and difficult to accept, being something that causes us discomfort, anguish and fear. Sometimes this fear is transformed into the fear that someone will take him or her away from us.

In some people, this desire to maintain the relationship with the loved one can turn into possessiveness, constantly fearing that someone will take it away from them.In some people, this desire to maintain the relationship with the loved one can turn into possessiveness, constantly fearing that they will be left for someone else and believing on the basis of this fear that the partner is cheating on them with another person or persons. And within this group of people there are some in which the beliefs that they are being cheated with other people are persistent and rigid, appearing such beliefs even when there is evidence to the contrary and can cause serious problems in the relationship, controlling behaviors and even violence towards the loved one or their possible lovers.

We are talking about people who present celotipia, a subtype of delusional disorder..

Jealousy and celotipia

Being jealous of someone is relatively common. The jealousy is a negative emotional state (that is to say, problematic and maladaptive) that arises before the idea of losing something loved, of that somebody takes us a good, a situation or a relation that we have and we want to maintain with us.

However, although wanting to keep the loved object or person by our side is logical, the presence of jealousy indicates a certain level of possessiveness that can destroy the relationship between the person and the object or the loved one, and that can harm the latter and/or put him/her in a vulnerable situation. between person and object or loved one, and that can also damage the latter and/or put him/her in a situation of vulnerability. And in many cases this situation occurs without there being a reason that can provoke jealousy, as for example in the disorder which is the subject of this article.

Othello's syndrome: delusional disorder of celotypic type

Sexual jealousy or Othello syndrome is a subtype of delusional disorder in which the person is convinced that the in which the person is convinced that his or her partner is unfaithful without any reason to justify it. It appears before an apparently banal fact that the person interprets as suspicious and on which subsequently a system of beliefs is constructed, looking for and interpreting data that seem to support them.

These beliefs about possible infidelity often cause the person to have a high level of control over the activities of the partner, even spying on their conversations and actions in order to try to catch him/her and confirm the suspicions. The information that the person seeks is biased, making anomalous interpretations of the responses, attitudes and ways of acting before other people of the loved one so that normal stimuli are interpreted as confirmatory, ignoring the evidence and information that contradict the alleged infidelity. In certain circumstances one can go so far as to attack the loved one or those who are interpreted to be the third persons..

The delusions are systematized, that is to say that in spite of there being no evidence or motives that can provoke these thoughts, the ideas themselves present a certain logic and internal coherence that makes them plausible. For this reason it can be difficult to make it clear that these beliefs are not limited to reality.. In other words, although our partner may be faithful, it is not impossible that our loved ones may stop being faithful and/or leave us for someone else, which makes it difficult to see that the thought that he or she is unfaithful is unrealistic.

Thus, jealousy is not only experiencing very intense jealousy, but also implies a predisposition to develop delusional and therefore psychopathological thoughts. On the other hand, in jealousy, the problematic aspects of jealousy are exacerbated when that which one wants to preserve is a person, such as the tendency to objectify that human being, seeing him or her as a good to be possessed.

Who is more prone to suffer from this pathological jealousy?

Depending on the statistics used to analyze this disorder, the sex with the highest prevalence varies, but this disorder is generally seen in consultation in people from forty years of age onwards (probably due to the consideration that with age one loses attractiveness and abilities, which causes insecurity). (probably due to the consideration that with age one loses attractiveness and abilities, which causes insecurity), although the fact that we are in a dynamic society with constant changes and that relationships have become more variable and insecure has manifested itself in younger and younger people.

Generally, people with jealousy tend to have a high level of insecurity, together with marked feelings of inferiority and a way of seeing the world according to which failures are usually attributed to external, global and stable variables, so that problems in the relationship are considered as indicators that there is someone else.

Because of these doubts and insecurities, it is common for many of these people to consume large amounts of alcohol and other substances, which in turn impairs judgment and causes greater cognitive bias.

The other side of the coin: the partner

The spouse may initially think that the jealousy of the person with jealousy is an expression of love and may even be interpreted as something positive, but over time and with repeated occurrences of jealousy, the spouse may think that the jealousy of the person with jealousy is an expression of love. with time and repeated suspicions and doubts the situation quickly begins to become aversive..

The fact of being constantly controlled by the partner and the constant doubts of the person suffering from the disorder about the relationship cause a high level of stress and frustration, and can even lead the partner to present anxiety disorders or depression. All these circumstances provoke a high level of conflict with the partner, being frequent the presence of unfounded accusations and a high level of dissatisfaction and suffering on the part of both.

Sometimes the persistence of the problem could even provoke a situation of self-fulfilling prophecy, in which the subject tired of the situation decides to leave the relationship or to make the suspicion of infidelity come true.

Causes of pathological jealousy

The causes of jealousy can be very varied.. The fact of having previously lived situations of infidelity causes in some people a high feeling of insecurity and a tendency to consider that future partners can and will do the same to them.

It is also frequent that it appears in people with broken families and parental models where the presence of insecurity in the couple and infidelity is frequent. Sometimes these people have considered that the situation or separation of their parents is their fault (as occurs in cases of children with divorced parents), or that the presence of cheating and infidelity is a common occurrence in relationships.

In any case, it is known that family crises accentuate all the potential problems that can occur in this area, and jealousy is one of them. Uncertainty about what is going to happen and insecurity make people start to distrust more and jealousy gains strength.

Jealousy from the point of view of Psychoanalysis

Some authors of psychoanalytic tendency consider that the cause of this type of phenomenon is a weakening of the self and its limits, projecting parts of the personality to the other person.projecting parts of the personality onto other people, in this case the spouse. Thus, insecure and highly sexual people would project their insecurity onto their partner, giving rise to the compulsive fear that they will have doubts about the relationship and look for someone better. The feelings of inferiority of these patients, who feel they are of little importance, are dealt with through denial and projection.

Another possible explanation is that the delirium is due to an attempt to give a logical explanation to an apparently strange perception, an explanation that reassures the person about the uncertainty provoked by the perception. Thus, a normal fact is interpreted in an anomalous way, deriving this interpretation in a system of beliefs that is maintained in the time in spite of the fact that they can be unfounded.

Treatment

The treatment of a delusional disorder can be complex due to the large number of factors and agents to be taken into account. In the case of the celotypic subtype of the delusional disorder some of the guidelines to be applied in the treatment are as follows.

1. Awareness and modification of dysfunctional beliefs

Treating this type of problem requires the modification of the patient's dysfunctional beliefs, so a cognitive-behavioral type of treatment is usually employed. The delusional subject should not be confronted directly, but a progressive approach should be made and a relationship of trust should be established so that the patient can express his or her fears.

It is intended that, little by little, the patient should gradually become aware and verbalize his or her fears and what the existence of infidelity would mean for him or her.. In this way, the patient himself reflects little by little on his beliefs, how he has come to have them and the logic and coherence of his arguments.

Subsequently, we have proceeded by making the patient see that his interpretation is only one of many possible interpretations, making him reflect on other options. Blaming oneself or the other person makes the situation worse, so the feelings provoked by the situation should be avoided and redirected. Relativizing and decatastrophizing the presence of infidelity has also proven to be of some use in some cases.

In the same way, it is necessary to make the patient see that if his/her partner is with them it is because he/she values them and wants to be with them.. It is also necessary to make the person see that it is logical and normal that other people may find the loved one attractive and that this does not imply that he/she will reciprocate.

2. Imaginative exposure and prevention of controlling behaviors

As we have said, it is very common for people with Othello syndrome to perform a series of behaviors in order to control and make sure whether or not their partner is being faithful to them. These behaviors are reinforced through a process of conditioning (checking that there is nothing temporarily reassures them, which provokes subsequent checks that avoid anxiety). In these cases it is necessary to make the patient able to tolerate uncertainty and anxiety.

For this purpose, one of the most successful treatments is to one of the most successful treatments is exposure with response prevention.. Thus, it is intended that the person imagines in a graded way situations in which the partner is unfaithful and controls the need to make checks in this regard. This exposure has to be gradual and regulated between the therapist and the patient, in order to make it tolerable and effective.

3. Couples therapy

It has been mentioned before that the persistence of the celotypical attitude causes serious problems in the couple's relationship, affecting and causing great suffering in both parties.

For this reason it is advisable the realization of couple therapy, finding a space in which both people can express their doubts and feelings.. In the same way, making both the person with jealousy and his partner see what the other must feel can be useful to assess the situation in a more correct way.

This type of intervention is important because it addresses the problem globally, not focusing on individuals but on groups and relational dynamics. However, it should be borne in mind that in most cases it is also necessary to attend individual psychotherapy sessions.The aim is to work on specific aspects of emotion management and to explore more deeply the person's problematic psychological predispositions without the other partner.

Encouraging communication is fundamental to improve the situation. and increasing mutual trust within the relationship is fundamental, making the coelotypical person see that the fact that his or her partner is unfaithful is less likely than he or she thinks and the partner that the attitude of the coelotypical person is due to a disorder that is being treated and that needs his or her help to overcome.

Bibliographical references:

• American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. Fifth edition. DSM-V. Masson, Barcelona.
• Belloch, Sandín and Ramos. (2008). Manual de psicopatología. Madrid. McGraw-Hill (vol. 1 and 2). Revised edition.
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• Mathes, E. (1991). A Cognitive Theory of Jealousy. The Psychology of Jealousy and Envy. New York: Guilford Press.
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• Shackelford, T.K.; Voracek, M.; Schmitt, D.P.; Buss, D.M.; Weekes-Shackelford, V.A.; Michalski, R.L. (2004). Romantic jealousy in early adulthood and in later life. Human Nature. 15 (3): 283 - 300.