Jealousy in sex is a complicated thing.
It can be very related to power, control and insecurity in relationships. It never makes us feel good, and it is the one feeling that people describe as bringing them close to madness.
Psychologists describe jealousy as primarily falling into two categories. ‘Normal’ and ‘delusional.’ Normal jealousy has its basis in a real threat to an important relationship. Delusional jealousy persists despite the absence of any real or even probable threat.
If you are experiencing extreme jealousy and you are or fear you will act out on it, best to go to a counselor for some assistance. Jealousy produces such intense feelings, it’s important to manage them rather than fall victim to them.
Psychologists suggest that jealousy is connected to the thing that drew you to the relationship in the first place. For example, if you fell in love with your partner because they make you feel you have ‘finally come home’ to a safe and secure place, you may have terrible feelings of abandonment and being alone if your partner leaves with someone else.
It is important to connect jealousy with love because it tells us that jealousy is the shadow of love. It also reminds us that we didn’t just happen in this relationship – we chose it. The romantic image that we set up for ourselves is the basis of our love just as it could turn into the basis of our jealousy.
You can read more about this in Psychology today, right here.
