Coping With Jealousy

Jealousy occurs in most human relationships at one time or another. Whether your relationship is an intimate one, a friendship, or just co-workers, it is not immune to the possibility of jealousy.

Jealousy can be thought of as those feelings you have when you perceive that your relationship is under attack. It can come about from your own insecurities about themselves and your relationships. This feeling is responsible for some very bad behavior exhibited by people who could not control their jealousy. From physical abuse to harsher abuse, the feeling has gotten many in serious trouble. How then can you deal with jealousy?

Research has shown that people cope with jealousy in different ways either separately or in combination.

Many people try to avoid the person they are jealous of. This can be a spouse, friend, or a family member.

With avoidance there is likely to be thoughts of leaving the relationship or simply to retreat to a 'safe' place or distance. This way of coping also includes staying away from the person and having little or no contact with them.

Another way people cope with jealousy is to revisit or reanalyze the situation. Here people will run through their minds what is happening, what caused it, and why it is affecting them in the way that it is.

People usually get upset and critical of themselves for being jealous and try to find reasons why they should not be jealous.

They do this in an effort to reduce the intensity of the feeling.

There are those who cope by devaluing the relationship they have. They will pretend that the person is not "worth it" or is no longer an important person to them. This method really revolves around a self deception which is never a good thing to do.

Another common way people deal with jealousy is to communicate the feeling.

For many people this is not an easy thing to do. It has been found by researchers that communication can bring about a reduction in the feeling but only when it results in the relationship growing and becoming better or a change in the way the other person's behavior is perceived.

By communicating the feeling in a constructive manner you will find that the other person usually understands your feelings and will often empathize with you and offer you some degree of comfort. They may even change their behavior so as to help you not feel jealous anymore.

One of the best methods of coping with jealousy is with hypnosis. You simply listen to the pre-recorded hypnosis session and gradually your jealousy will start to melt away.