What is extreme jealousy a symptom of?
Claud Lehner
2025-06-21 19:38:44
Count answers: 10
Pathological jealousy, also known as delusional jealousy or morbid jealousy, is a psychiatric symptom in which the afflicted person is irrationally preoccupied with a partner's unfaithfulness based on unfounded evidence. Pathological jealousy is considered by most theorists to be a delusional state, and the phenomenon is encountered not uncommonly in older adults with paraphrenia, a form of psychotic disorder that develops later in life and is marked by a strong delusional component with preservation of thought and personality. However, pathological jealousy can also be seen in obsessive-compulsive disorder and in certain personality disorders. A borderline personality organization is an important predisposing condition in any form of delusional jealousy. Borderline personality disorder is characterized by intense fears of abandonment and rejection, an unstable sense of self, chaotic interpersonal relationships, and self-contradictory and self-defeating behavior. Jealousy in borderline personality can manifest in the patient frequently accusing the partner of cheating or hiding things, extreme suspiciousness of the partner's behavior, whereabouts, and communications, a constant need for reassurance of the partner's fidelity, and, in extreme cases, stalking and abusive or controlling behavior. At delusional levels, the patient becomes wholly convinced of the partner's unfaithfulness.
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