![]() Indeed, delusional jealousy is often referred to as “Othello syndrome”. A classic example of delusional romantic jealousy is Shakespeare’s character Othello who constantly believes his wife Desdemona is committing adultery and consumed by jealousy, murders her in a fit of rage before committing suicide. Individuals with obsessive romantic jealousy suffer from unpleasant and irrational jealous ruminations that their partner could be unfaithful and engage compulsive checking of the partner’s behavior, whereas those suffering from delusional jealousy form strong false beliefs that their partner is unfaithful without having any real proof ( Batinic et al., 2013). The incidence of pathological romantic jealousy is estimated to be 0.5–1% of the population ( Soyka and Schmidt, 2011) although only the delusional form is recognized as a disorder under DSM V as a sub-category of delusional psychosis ( APA, 2013). Significant associations between jealousy and intimate partner sexual coercion have also been reported in men ( Snead and Babcock, 2019). A community-based study reported that 15% of men and women had, at some time, been subjected to physical violence by a jealous partner ( Mullen and Martin, 1994) and it has been suggested that up to 20% of all murders are contributed to by romantic jealousy ( White and Mullen, 1989). The current review aims to summarize our current understanding of the different forms of pathological romantic jealousy and its neural and neurochemical control and then focusses on the potential for intranasal administration of the neuropeptide oxytocin for reducing it through its actions on strengthening and maintaining romantic bonds and interactions with dopamine and serotonin.īoth obsessive and delusional forms of pathological romantic jealousy are associated with self-harm and predominately male-to-female violence such as domestic abuse and even murder ( Camicioli, 2011). While jealousy is a widely experienced emotion it is generally considered pathological (morbid) when it goes beyond the level of possessiveness considered acceptable by society ( Ecker, 2012). As such it is a negative emotion involving feelings of resentment, deception, hurt and loss of trust. Jealousy has been defined as “a perception of threat of loss of a valued relationship to a real or imagined rival which includes affective, cognitive and behavioral components” ( Mullen, 1991). These findings indicate a possible therapeutic use of intranasal oxytocin administration in pathological jealousy. Recent studies in healthy populations have reported that when oxytocin is administered intranasally it can influence the brain to promote strengthening of romantic bonds and reduce romantic jealousy in both men and women evoked in either imagined or real contexts. However, there is increasing interest in a potential role for the neuropeptide oxytocin, which can also modulate dopaminergic and serotonin systems in the brain and has been shown to altered in other psychotic conditions, such as schizophrenia and obsessive compulsive disorder. Studies in both clinical and healthy populations have identified altered fronto-striatal responsivity as being associated primarily with romantic jealousy and to date drug based treatments have targeted both dopaminergic and serotonergic systems. ![]() Both obsessive and delusional forms have been identified although only the latter is currently recognized as a pathological disorder. Romantic jealousy, especially in its pathological form, is a significant contributor to both domestic abuse, including partner sexual coercion and even murder, although relatively little research has been conducted on it. The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China.
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