Any marriage will be tough at times, but if you have an insecure spouse, the prospect of facing a stormy relationship increases exponentially.
Unjustified jealousy can spring from one partner having trust or self-image issues.
Left to run rampant, jealousy can potentially cause irreparable damage to the relationship.
The Bitter Truth of Jealousy Jealousy is both a natural and powerful feeling.
Most people experience it at some point in their relationship, but jealousy becomes a more significant issue when it spirals out of control.
Partners who are jealous can become very unreasonable and demanding.
They may not be able to see that their jealousy is unfounded (make sure it IS unfounded...
) or even hurtful to their partner.
Your mate might even become distrustful - if not outright paranoid - of the other spouse.
They simply can't believe the person they love is being honest.
Facing Jealousy Sometimes jealousy rears its ugly head because of past problems in previous relationships.
Prior infidelity or dishonesty can leave lasting emotional scars.
The partner who was hurt may always worry that history will repeat itself.
On the other hand, jealousy can simply spring from a person's own insecurities.
If a partner has poor self-esteem, they may be afraid of being left behind for someone "better.
" Any word or innocent action can potentially feed this fear, causing an unreasonable reaction.
Adjusting to Jealousy Sometimes no matter how hard a spouse tries, he/she just can't get a handle on their jealousy.
Whether it is founded or not, both partners need to hammer through the issue.
This isn't easy, but necessary if both hope to keep the marriage healthy.
The spouse who is experiencing the jealousy needs to explain as clearly as possible why and when the jealousy has come about.
Identifying trigger points will help in finding a workable solution.
Honesty is critical about how they felt and why the prior incident stirred the jealous feelings.
The accused partner needs to calmly sit back and listen, temporarily setting aside their own feelings - which is hard to do if you're feeling falsely accused.
Simply put, the jealous individual may find it difficult to be honest about their insecure feelings need strong support to talk through it.
Grab Control of Jealousy If both spouses understand the root of jealousy, they can work together as a team to combat it.
The jealous spouse can learn not to overreact and instead trust that their partner is not intentionally trying to cause hurt.
The other partner can learn to be more sensitive to triggers that lead to a jealousy episode.
Although jealousy is normal, its effect can be quite destructive to a marriage.
Both mates need to face it honestly, along with the insecurities that go with it.