Am J Psychiatry 1976; 133:679-683
Copyright © 1976 by American Psychiatric Association
A new concept and finding in morbid jealousy
JP Docherty and J Ellis
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.
