A new concept and finding in morbid jealousy.
The authors describe an unexpected coincidental finding in three couples who sought therapy because the husband was pathologically jealous. In the course of treatment they found that during early adolescence each of these men had witnessed his mother engaged in extramarital sexual activity. The authors discuss the implications of this finding for further understanding of the etiology of the syndrome of pathological jealousy, its transactional dimensions, and possible psychotherapeutic approaches. They also present a typology of morbid jealousy that consists of excessive obsessional-delusional, and ego dysfunctional forms.
D000328:Adult; D003702:Delusions / Q000209:etiology*; D005114:Extramarital Relations; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007578:Jealousy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000209:etiology* / Q000628:therapy; D011385:Projection; D011582:Psychological Theory; D011599:Psychopathology; D011613:Psychotherapy; D012725:Sexual Behavior; D014167:Transference, Psychology