Delusional Jealousy Research Articles

The organic and psychological antecedents of delusional jealousy in old age

AbstractSeven consecutive cases of delusional jealousy presenting in old age are described with particular reference to possible aetiological factors. It seems most commonly associated with organic psychosyndromes often accompanied by visual hallucinations of a sexual nature. Organic disease rendering the patient housebound, disparity in age and health between patient and spouse and previous experience of infidelity were common antecedents. These may represent aetiological factors of particular significance to elderly populations.

Short‐term interventions for morbid jealousy

AbstractThis paper discusses short‐term treatment for morbid jealousy. A brief account of the clinical presentation of morbid jealousy is given. Theoretical approaches to this phenomenon are summarized and commented on. Specific behavioural and cognitive techniques are described, and their rationale explained. Case examples are cited to illustrate the use of these techniques. Some general comments on the application of these techniques are also made.

Jealousy as a clinical problem: Practical issues of assessment and treatment

This paper discusses the problem of jealousy in relationships. The clinical presentations are summarized, and the question of what is morbid jealousy is addressed. Issues in the assessment of jealo...

Cognitive formulation for morbid jealousy (Othello syndrome)

AbstractA patient suffering from psychotic morbid jealousy is reported and a formulation to understand the psychopathology cognitively is presented demonstrating that cognitive formulation can be utilized for understanding of psychotic morbid jealousy patients as well.

Cross-Cultural Aspects of Jealousy

Jealousy is a complex emotion but evokes very strong feelings in the ‘sufferer' and the observer. The clinician may come across morbid jealousy more often but the general levels of jealousy and the social ways of dealing with such emotions are important in the presentation and perpetuation of jealousy. Self-esteem in private and self-esteem in public are important in presentation of jealousy. Few studies have been carried out in cross-cultural settings. These suggest that the feelings of jealousy are linked with issues related to property ownership, progeny, pair-bonding and sexual activity. The culture of society is a much more potent variable. This paper reviews various studies which have addressed cross-cultural comparisons and the influence of nuclear family set up vis-a-vis polyandrous and polygynous societies is discussed. A cognitive model of jealousy is described.

Delusional jealousy in psychiatric disorders of later life

Delusional jealousy in psychiatric disorders of later life

The absolution game P Sayer Constable 204pp £13.99 0 09 471460 6

Hardly a barrel of laughs, Paul Sayer. Humour is not a strong point in the novels of the former psychiatric nurse: the narrator’s grim battle for existence in The Comforts of Madness; the slide into pathological jealousy in Howling at the Moon.

Adrenocortical Suppression Presenting with Agitated Depression, Morbid Jealousy, and a Dementia-Like State

A 66-year-old woman showed profound neuropsychiatric disturbance after withdrawal from prolonged corticosteroid treatment. Reintroduction of an alternative corticosteroid, at low dose, produced a return to premorbid mental state.

Delusional Jealousy and Awareness of Reality

Who are mad, those in lunatic asylums or the rest of us, pruning our inane rituals outside? What is reality, what delusion? These are the basic questions of the human predicament posed by Pirandello's play Henry IV, now revived on the London stage with Richard Harris's mesmeric central performance as the alienated Everyman, who finds fulfilment in posing as the tormented medieval king.

Delusional disorder: the predictive validity of the concept

A sample of 72 first-admitted patients with delusional disorder was personally re-examined after a mean of 10 years, and 42 of them after an average of 27 years. The mean observation period for all patients from admission to last follow-up was 20 years (3-39). There was a trend that patients with delusions of jealousy did better on course variables, but similar outcomes were revealed in groups with delusions of jealousy, persecution and a mixed group with different main delusions. Duration of symptoms prior to admission was a significant predictor of outcome, indicating dividing lines of 1 and 6 months at 10-year follow-up and 3 and 6 months at long-term follow-up. Based on the data, a minimal duration of 6 months is proposed for persistent delusional disorder.

Othello Syndrome Secondary to Right Cerebrovascular Infarction

The Othello syndrome, or delusional jealousy, occurs in idiopathic psychoses and in neurodegenerative diseases, but has rarely been described in patients with cerebrovascular infarction. A patient was observed to exhibit the delusion shortly after cerebral ischemic injury in the absence of other psychiatric symptoms. The underlying pathology was consistent with recent reports on content-specific delusions, implicating right hemisphere and frontal lobe involvement in the misinterpretation and misidentification of complex information. Psychological factors were hypothesized to shape the content of the delusional misinterpretations.

Reversible Pathologic Jealousy (Othello Syndrome) Associated With Amantadine

We describe a case of pathologic jealousy (Othello syndrome) in a patient with Parkinson disease, which abated after discontinuing amantadine. We indicate that early recognition and treatment of the syndrome in this disease may avert physical violence. We also believe that our report further suggests a link between this specific behavioral disorder and dopaminergic activity.

Jealousy: The Pathology of Passion

Emotions may be rooted in biology but the process of cultural construction gives those emotions form and a language for their expression. The changing construction of jealousy in Western societies has transformed a socially sanctioned response to infidelity into a form of personal pathology which is the mere outward expression of immaturity, possessiveness and insecurity. This is a history of the stripping away of social, ethical and finally interpersonal meanings from an experience, to leave it as a piece of individual psychopathology. Fidelity and jealousy are constructed as they are because of the nature of the social and economic realities which drive our culture. The erosion of the area of human experience which could be identified with normal jealousy leaves the boundary between the pathological jealousy of psychiatry and normal experience increasingly problematic.

Treatment of pathological jealousy by fluoxetine

Treatment of pathological jealousy by fluoxetine

Prevalence of Delusional Jealousy in Different Psychiatric Disorders

The prevalence of delusional jealousy in 8134 psychiatric in-patients was 1.1%. Delusions of jealousy were most frequent in organic psychoses (7.0%), paranoid disorders (6.7%), alcohol psychosis (5.6%) and schizophrenia (2.5%), while in affective disorder delusions of jealousy could be found in only 0.1%. Because schizophrenia and affective disorder were the most common diagnoses, most patients with delusions of jealousy were schizophrenics. In schizophrenia, women were more likely to suffer from delusional jealousy, while in alcohol psychosis, men were more likely than women to suffer from delusional jealousy.

Multi-faceted treatment of a case of morbid jealousy

Abstract A case of morbid jealousy within the context of a marital relationship is reported. The treatment included both couple and individual therapy, using a range of techniques, leading to a satisfactory outcome. This paper discusses some of the features of the case, and comments on issues related to the nature and therapy of jealousy.

Morbid Jealousy: a Review and Cognitive-Behavioural Formulation

Jealousy is a common emotion which can be considered pathological in some circumstances. The term ‘morbid jealousy’ has been used to signify this abnormal or extreme condition. However, the literature on morbid jealousy is sparse and the empirical data fragmentary. The aims of this paper are to briefly review the concept, to define the dimensions of the disorder and to apply a cognitive-behavioural framework to it. Such a summary paper is timely, to draw together the different aspects of the problem and to provide a theoretical base from which to generate further research.

Pimozide in pathological jealousy

Pimozide in pathological jealousy

Psychoanalytical Aspects of Morbid Jealousy in Women

During the course of the psychoanalytical treatment of patients whose morbid jealousy is of the non-psychotic type it is possible to identify the unconscious causes of the pathological mental state. This material can provide an insight into the unconscious determinants of the contents of delusions of jealousy.

Pimozide in pathological jealousy

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