Imagine your partner has been invited to a night out with friends. How would you feel? Would you be fine with it, or would you feel uncomfortable, or jealous maybe?
Jealousy is a common problem in relationships. A survey of marital therapists indicates that jealousy was judged to be the major or a major presenting problem in one-third of their clients (White, 2008). Jealousy can be damaging to your relationship, causing irritations and discussions.
What can I do when I’m jealous?
- Work on your self-esteem. Reserach has shown that there is a link between jeaslousy amd a lower self-esteem (Khanchandani & Durham ,2009).
- Avoid situations that could arouse jealous feelings. Checking your partner’s Facebook, email or phone will most likely make you feel worse.
- When you feel insecure about something, talk to your partnet about it. Finding a solution together is better than keeping things to yourself that makes you insecure.
And do remember that you are definitely not the only one that has those feelings. Try to talk about it with somebody that you will comfortable with and find out what they do to avoid jealous feelings.
Esther is an assistant psychologist at Willingness. She works with adults and couples. She has a special interest in mental health. She can be contacted on esther@willingness.com.mt.