What is Jealousy?
Have you ever felt discomfort when your mother is complimenting your sibling, but not you? Or when a friend gets the newest phone and you’re still stuck with the model from six years ago? Sometimes, you might even feel like punching people because of this utterly weird, green feeling. So, what is this odd emotion? And where does it come from? This strange sensation is jealousy. Jealousy is a complex emotion that encompasses feelings of a wide variety, from fury to fear to embarrassment to doubt. It is a complicated feeling that is universal, and is expressed in interesting ways.
According to researchers, jealousy stems from possessiveness, and is present in human beings from the moment they’re born. A baby first experiences it when he or she watches their mother giving attention to someone else. They might express their dislike by crying for her attention. Similarly, when the only child gets a new sibling, they might feel the spotlight shifting from them to the new baby. This shift in spotlight makes them do silly things to gain the attention and care from their parents.
Understanding Jealousy
It is an understood fact that human beings have a strong drive to compete with one another. And in that process of competing, they often end up copying the people they’re jealous of. Jealousy is a multi-faceted emotion. It can create mistrust between people, ruin relationships and wreck homes.
Most cases of jealousy have one common denominator: low self-esteem. Insecure people are drowned in self-doubt and their worth in their own eyes is quite low. This leads to the development of low self-esteem, which might materialize in dangerous ways. Jealous people frequently feel the need to hurt others in order to pacify their own emotions. If you’ve ever felt something similar, a visit to the Best Psychiatrist in karachi is highly recommended. These trained professionals can help you manage jealousy by channeling it into productive ways.
But here’s something interesting. Although jealousy is a negative emotion, psychologists believe that it is, in fact, quite necessary. Jealousy often arises out of fear of abandonment, being replaced or not being loved. It leaves a person feeling extremely vulnerable but bold at the same time. People often feel jealous when they think their position is threatened, this leads them to do all sorts of crazy things to protect their position. This makes jealousy dangerous right? But psychologists recommend that instead of suppressing it, people should consider it a sign that their relationships are in trouble and they need to do their best to sort things out. Therefore, jealousy is an important emotion that needs to be felt so we keep pushing ourselves to maintain our relationships, strengthen our bonds, perform better in studies and strive hard at work.
Dealing with Jealousy the Right Way
No matter how negative jealousy may be, it is crucial for us to understand that it is after all, a very natural emotion. It is really important to know how to deal with jealousy in the right manner. If we aren’t careful, we can end up hurting people tremendously out of jealousy. So, the first step to dealing with jealousy is to acknowledge it. At the end of the day, you are human. You can’t be strong all the time. Learning to challenge your negative thoughts is a good way to deal with jealousy. If you feel that you have a tendency to be violent when you feel jealous, visit the Best Psychiatrist in rawalpindi to have a better understanding and control of your emotions.
Jealousy has no definite cure. But a great way to deal with it is to recognise the emotions behind it, and work on them. If you’re always questioning your abilities, work on your confidence. The only way people are going to recognise and value your worth is if you treasure it first. Practicing gratitude can also work as a coping mechanism against jealousy. When you start feeling content about what you have in life you no longer feel jealous of what others have as it is rightly said contentment is the soul of happiness.
