Current Events > Why is jealousy an emotion, y'all?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I should be happy that they are happy, but instead I feel jealousy, and I hate it.

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Because of hundreds of millions of years of evolution where something as simple as you not having something and somebody else having something was literally life-and-death.

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It's something you have to actively suppress

The good news is, awareness is the first step, so you're on the right track!
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s0nicfan posted...

Because of hundreds of millions of years of evolution where something as simple as you not having something and somebody else having something was literally life-and-death.

I just hate all these things. Tbh, while not life-and-death for some of us, it still has a purpose I guess, but it makes me feel gross.

teepan95 posted...

It's something you have to actively suppress

The good news is, awareness is the first step, so you're on the right track!

If only I knew the 2nd step. I've been aware of how my feelings have been going for years now. I feel like I literally have hatred, jealousy, and anger flowing through me. It is very unhealthy, and I cannot imagine good for my long-standing health.

Just don't know how to get actual happiness back in there.

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People who say suppress it or work on it are just wrong.

Being a human is experiencing the full range of emotions, the pleasant and non-pleasant ones. You'll be a better human if you don't fight your emotions.

When you feel that feeling actively remind yourself why and how you feel; you'll stop feeling that way soon enough.

maybe talk to a therapist if it's bothering you so much.

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Dont suppress it, like that dude said it kept us alive... eat meat too

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PiOverlord posted...

I just hate all these things. Tbh, while not life-and-death for some of us, it still has a purpose I guess, but it makes me feel gross.

If only I knew the 2nd step. I've been aware of how my feelings have been going for years now. I feel like I literally have hatred, jealousy, and anger flowing through me. It is very unhealthy, and I cannot imagine good for my long-standing health.

Just don't know how to get actual happiness back in there.

Well, there's always therapy. Absent that, try to explore the underlying root cause of the jealousy. For example, are you really jealous because your neighbor has a nicer car? Or is it really because you're stressing out over bills and don't have enough spare cash for a nicer things? If you can find a way to discover the thing about your own life that you feel is lacking that is leading to those specific feelings of jealousy, you at least have a target to improve on. Channeling that jealousy into constructive action to better your own life at the very least will make you a better person.

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DP3 posted...

People who say suppress it or work on it are just wrong.

Being a human is experiencing the full range of emotions, the pleasant and non-pleasant ones. You'll be a better human if you don't fight your emotions.

It just can't be healthy, though, right? To feel it as much as I do. Like, as you said, you need the full range of emotions, but I feel like I am basically all on the bad-side of things. It literally makes me feel sick so much. Don't think that's a good sign.

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To fully express all of your emotions is to be a child

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s0nicfan posted...

Well, there's always therapy. Absent that, try to explore the underlying root cause of the jealousy. For example, are you really jealous because your neighbor has a nicer car? Or is it really because you're stressing out over bills and don't have enough spare cash for a nicer things? If you can find a way to discover the thing about your own life that you feel is lacking that is leading to those specific feelings of jealousy, you at least have a target to improve on. Channeling that jealousy into constructive action to better your own life at the very least will make you a better person.

I know the root cause, and it just makes me even more sad because I don't know how to fix it. They feel like fundamental issues, like problems with the way my brain operates. I feel like the hill is just so big, and I never have anyone to talk to about my issues. I know therapy could help, I probably need medication too, but I get so insecure having to talk to someone face-to-face about my problems. I also worry about the thought of therapy and medication not working, and then what?


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PiOverlord posted...

I know the root cause, and it just makes me even more sad because I don't know how to fix it. They feel like fundamental issues, like problems with the way my brain operates. I feel like the hill is just so big, and I never have anyone to talk to about my issues. I know therapy could help, I probably need medication too, but I get so insecure having to talk to someone face-to-face about my problems. I also worry about the thought of therapy and medication not working, and then what?

If it doesn't work, you're no worse off than you are now. It's a no-lose proposition to at least try. If you're really nervous about face-to-face interactions, just let the therapist know and maybe they can work out something like writing exercises to help you communicate your issues. There are a lot of avenues here.

The hill looks so big because you're trying to get to the top in one step, when really you're allowed to take as much time as you need to work your way up that hill, as long as you take it one step at a time.

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Jealousy is like a mixture of anger, despair, greed, and occasionally fear.
It's really a compound emotion of other ones combined.

Some old recommended solutions for fits of jealousy was to treat one or more of the combined emotions above to get the jealousy as a whole under better control ("stop the train, by targeting the engine"). For example, a person could feel jealous and fear being upstaged by one of their friends buying an impressive new gadget to show off to the clique. This can also lead into some of the other troubling emotions to enter the picture as well. However, if the person comes to the conclusion that their clique will only be impressed for a short amount of time (flavor of the month), it can relieve the jealousy by removing the sense of urgency to compete.

A healthy minded person can mitigate the other emotions in similar ways.

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ClockworkHare posted...

Jealousy is like a mixture of anger, despair, greed, and occasionally fear.
It's really a compound emotion of other ones combined.

Some old recommended solutions for fits of jealousy was to treat one or more of the combined emotions above to get the jealousy as a whole under better control ("stop the train, by targeting the engine"). For example, a person could feel jealous and fear being upstaged by one of their friends buying an impressive new gadget to show off to the clique. This can also lead into some of the other troubling emotions to enter the picture as well. However, if the person comes to the conclusion that their clique will only be impressed for a short amount of time (flavor of the month), it can relieve the jealousy by removing the sense of urgency to compete.

A healthy minded person can mitigate the other emotions in similar ways.

Interesting. Never realized all the things that go into jealousy. I have all of those feelings, so it makes sense why jealousy is so strong in me.


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