Othello Syndrome (Delusional Jealousy)

Othello Syndrome (Sometimes known as morbid jealousy, sexual jealousy, delusional jealousy or erotic jealousy syndrome), was first coined by psychiatrist John Todd. Named after Shakepeare's play, 'Othello', it refers to someone who is consumed by obsessive, intrusive, and at times delusional thoughts about their partner's fidelity.

This video outlines what it is and some of the common characteristics and triggers.

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#othellosyndrome #delusionaljealousy #morbidjealousy

[sarahjsjt]

My partner has this and it is so difficult to get them help. They function well and even highly in other areas of their life so it is impossible for them to believe that they are the ones that have the problem.
This has destroyed our lives. 😢

[walkinlight]

Jealousy is such a wasted emotional drain in my opinion. Having been cheated on early in life several times I asked my husband to just be honest if he was interested in someone else to just tell me and move on. We agreed and we have been together for 36 years. I refused to even think about this subject and it's given us both such freedom to live our lives trusting not in fidelity but open honesty even when the words were things we didn't want to hear. This works for us. Negative emotions are very bad for your health.

[neelrivera]

My ex would never want to be corrected. If she said I was being unfaithful then she was right, no matter what I said or proved her wrong. Toxicity to it's worst everyday of my life she was deteriorating me a bit more until I couldn't take it anymore. Had to gain strengths and stop fearing. Because that's all she wanted to represent: A nightmare to my life until I woke up and left her.

[MsBrooklyn]

My soon-to-be ex-husband has this problem but there is a cure. Its called divorce and I highly recommend it!

[iybfqqs]

My wife suffers from this and it's no laughing matter. While the episodes do not happen everyday, they creep up and manifest in acute, rage-filled events where she becomes a whole different person. We've been together for 30 years (married for more than 20) and for the last ten years during these episodes she has accused me of sexual affairs with most of our friends (I should say former friends, since the relationships have been severed because of this illness) including both the male and female partners of the couples, with my work partners, with clients, and even with her own father. When she gets revved up, there is no way to escape the strength of the delusional illogic, since it is almost impossible to disprove a negative. Currently, we are separated, as the last episode led to her calling the police and telling them that I was poisoning her food. If you are in such a relationship, be careful. The threats perceived by the jealous spouse are so strong that they may lead to violence on their part. I have been punched, pushed etc., while my wife is going through these episodes. There's no substance abuse on her part, but I do believe there is something organic happening, almost like a paranoid schizophrenic. If anyone has a similar experience or could share resources, I would appreciate hearing from you.

[becky]

This is helpful, I suffer from this & it’s very useful to know it’s me who has the problem and not them. I think with this self awareness I hope to be able to control my intrusive thoughts & know it’s all part of this condition. & stop the bad habits that escalate these feelings

[JohnSmith-wons]

My ex when we first got together would accuse me of looking at other women or fancying work colleagues, would check my phone and had to have email access, I thought she was just incredibly insecure and very paranoid, I had nothing to hide but with hindsight wish I'd had boundaries cos things only got worse.

[tatianasmelaya]

This is very accurate. I recently separated from my husband just two months ago. He suffers from Othello syndrome. I can relate to every single word said in this video. After separation he started posting videos on YouTube about how unfaithful I am/was etc. He’s completely obsessed with this. On the top of things however I also think he’s a narcissist and he has a huge alcohol problem. Of course he blames me because he says he’s drinking to cover his suffering because of me cheating. Bullshit. He tortured me mentally for many years and finally became physically aggressive and actually almost choked me to death. So these people can be really dangerous. They never admit they have a problem of course so you cannot help them because they never sick therapy. If you’re married to one, run away before it’s too late.

[myunknownland]

Glad my children are adults and I'm glad I'm on my own.

[freetobememe]

I was obsessively jealous, as I was told with first husband, he divorced me, I found out how many affair she had had, married a few years later and have never been jealous. It wasn’t about me, it was I was given reason to mistrust. 10 long years of it.

[jowoods]

I have been going through this for the last 2 years, the last 8 months he has completely lost the plot, completely delusional. When I left him 8 months ago because I could not take it anymore, he went psychotic.

[jeanettegriffin]

This is the first I've heard of Othello syndrome. I lost my son 5yrs ago. I believe his girlfriend of 9 years had this syndrome. Although my son death was ruled a suicide. I have so many questions than answers. She had behaviors that I ignored, only because I respected him. A week before his death I had a conversation with him, on bad she was. If I would have known that was going to be last conversation I was going to have with my son.
The outcome would have been different. She is so toxic. I wonder if this behavior followedi her to the next relationship?

[burning]

very sad for anyone who has gone through this. there is no talking to the other person.

[curiousme]

My brother is jealous like this over any relationship with our mother. He hates for me & my sister to have any kind of meaningful relationship with her & he'll do whatever he can to sabotage it.
He's literally told us that she doesn't love us like she loves him & that he knows she gave birth to us but she is HIS MOTHER.
Him & my sister are twins 🤔
She isolated him so much and put him the role of " man of the house" when he was about 7 yrs old somehow they've developed a very strange very dependant on one another relationship. It's hard to process it and impossible to understand.
My brother is so emotionally crippled he's never been able to have a relationship with a woman . He's 48.
He's had girls in & out of his life but he only sees them as a means to an end. If they have something he wants he'll stalk them and pounce on them like a wild cat skillfully sneaking up on it's prey until the moment is right to pounce & over take them.
And my mother has viciously hated these women.
It's been sad and confusing to watch throughout my life

[PenninkJacob]

I'd like to know more about parental alienation.... Love you work!!! Thank you so much!

[natalieburns]

My boyfriend has periods where he is like this. He believes I cheat on him with one of HIS coworkers. Based upon our Facebook online statuses lining up. (Me and other man aren’t even friends, on Facebook or in real life. We’ve only met a handful of times at work events) So there’s no real correlation. Only my boyfriend’s perceived correlation. It’s hellish when he disappears for days at a time, thinking I’ve been cheating. I love him dearly because when he is good, he is really good. But the accusations suck and I’m not that kind of person so it’s painful to have my character/ goodness questioned so much. It feels like my value is diminishing with every episode. It’s gotten the point it’s really starting to wear me down. A couple particular incidents involving the accusations have left me with deep emotional trauma that I’ve had to bury, as well. It sucks. He’s never been violent or scary about it, though. Ugh

[AlyciaRose]

I think I have this. Something hard to admit to but ever since I got cheated on and stayed I’ve developed those symptoms. Wasn’t like this till it happened several times. Something said wrong can change my mood in seconds and I won’t be able to let it go until I feel the apologies meets my standards. It’s toxic asf but idk how to get over it and how to let him talk to women without me needing to be there.

[marianad]

I suffer from this and it’s literally distroying my life…

[shriramjahagirdar]

I have been in this kind of relationship and life has become worse due to it. Immediately after marriage my wife wanted to know about my past which I thought was ok. But things started getting bad to worse day by day. At severest form I was needed to carry phone {on} continuously with me when at work and she would hear from other side what I was talking, what others were talking to me and themselves also. I was not allowed to watch TV, even News channel to prevent me having a look at females. She would follow me on GPS to know my route taken to reach workplace. constantly ask me why I got late even by a minute or two due to traffic. she would call on land line in office to check if i was really there, would make me video calls to see who is around me. Even after that I needed to speak everything on oath to clarify that i was not in relationship with other women. We had no relation as husband and wife because she feared I have contracted HIV and forced me to do test for same at least thrice. and when reports came negative, she used to say I must be using protection to prevent HIV infection. But if this thing kept aside, she happened to be very intelligent lady and nobody including my parents (leave aside her parents) would think that she was wrong somewhere.

[DE-cjxi]

Great content...I suffer with monopoly syndrome and it's a right pain in the just can't help getting sent to conspiracy