Its psychological disorder characterised by the false absolute certainty of the infidelity of a partner. This is one of most common disorder which leads to divorce, domestic violence and sometimes homicide or suicide.
Causes:
· Genetic: genes may be involved. It is believed that, as with other mental disorders, a tendency to have delusional disorder might be passed on from parents to their children.
· Biological: Neuro chemical changes in certain part of brain is seen in delusional disorder.
· Environmental/psychological: Evidence suggests that stress . Alcohol and drug abuse, & People who tend to be isolated has more probability to develop illness.
Treatment:
Group of drug called antipsychotic medication are effective in treating delusional jealousy. problem with such patients is that they do not seek any treatment. they do not believe that they have any problem hence they do not take medication. this leads to severe problem and many times divorce, suicide or homicide.
Psychotherapy sometimes do play role in overcoming illness but medication forms mainstay of treatment.
Symptoms:
Delusional jealousy also called Othello syndrome has
· False firm fix belief that his or her spouse is unfaithful.
· No evidence to prove unfaithfulness.
· Spends time to monitor spouse.
· Keeps close monitoring of spouse to find any evidence or catch him or her red handed.
· Sees trivial things to prove his or her point.
· Marked impairment in interpersonal and family relationship.
· People with delusional disorder often can continue to socialize and function normally, apart from the subject of their delusion.
· Patients often have Irritable, angry, or low mood
Getting Some help for Jealous Delusions
Extreme jealousy frequently leads to possessiveness, and relationships including these characteristics are more likely to result in physical attacks, stalking, harassment, or even worse. Approximately 55 percent of women murdered are injured by current or former domestic partners, with acute jealousy playing a role in many of these cases.
The majority of persons who suffer from delusional jealousy do not resort to violence. Even if things don’t escalate to this degree, jealous delusions are an indication of mental illness that should not be overlooked for the sake of all parties concerned.
The good news is that if those suffering from jealous delusions are sincerely committed to seeking relief from their suffering, outpatient and inpatient treatment programmes for delusional illnesses can help them overcome their mistrustful and controlling impulses.
Antipsychotic drugs, as well as individual and family therapy, can be used to cure jealous delusions, and cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is highly suggested for those who need to learn to perceive themselves, their life, and the world more realistically.
Delusional jealousy, as well as the other illnesses that may be associated to it, can all be treated. The first step on the road to recovery is to be evaluated for delusional jealousy and any co-occurring illnesses, and being willing to change is what allows treatment to work.
Risk Associated
Behaviors that are confirming
When doubts about a partner’s loyalty begin, they soon consume all of one’s thoughts. Interrogation of the partner, repeated phone calls to work and surprise visits, stalking, setting up recording devices in the home or at work, or employing a private detective to follow the partner are all common ways to figure out if there is true infidelity or if it is only perceived infidelity. Jealous people may go to extremes, such as inspecting the partner’s clothing and belongings, looking through diaries and other forms of communication (email, text messaging), or examining bed linens, underwear, and even genitalia for signs of sexual activity.
Risk to children
Children who live with a parent who suffers from morbid jealousy may be subjected to emotional and/or physical violence as a result of the parent’s activities. Children may also hear or observe physical violence between their parents by accident. They could even be hurt unintentionally during assaults. One or more children may be used by the morbidly jealous parent to spy on the other parent. A youngster witnessing a homicide or suicide in which their parent is the victim is not unheard of.
Self-inflicted harm
Morbid jealousy is associated with depression and substance misuse, thus it’s not uncommon for people to have suicidal thoughts.
Risk to others
Any relationship stained by envy, whether natural or morbid jealousy, can result in violence. In a 1994 study of jealousy by Mullen & Martin, 15% of both men and women said they had been “subjected to physical violence at the hands of a jealous partner” at some point. In some cultures, jealousy is even used to “justify violence against spouses.” In both female and male perpetrators, homicide victims are most likely to be current or ex-partners. When a partner consistently denies adultery, he or she may become enraged and violent. On the other hand, the suffering partner may give up and make a false confession, which will almost certainly enrage the jealous individual. A sample of 20 people with delusional jealousy was gathered in the United States. Silva (1998) discovered that 13 of the 19 men had threatened to harm their spouse because of their imagined adultery. Nine of the 13 men really assaulted their wives. Three of the twenty had used a weapon, and 12 had harmed their spouse. The occurrence of paranoid delusions and hallucinations of partner injury was most frequently linked to violence. This shows that persons who engage in violent behaviour as a result of delusional jealousy may be primarily motivated by psychotic occurrences. Alcohol intake was linked to an increased risk of assault