Jealousy, they say, is part of any relationship, especially a romantic one. However, too much of it is definitely not a good thing. According to one study, it may eventually turn you into an alcoholic.
The researchers of University of Houston revealed that there's a link between the increased risk of becoming an alcoholic and jealousy. However, to be clear, the colleagues want to stress out that this jealousy should stem from being in a bad relationship where a person's value or self-esteem is dependent on the partner. These three contributing factors can then be used for quick diagnosis of alcoholism.
To conduct the study, the researchers worked with almost 300 people, most of which were women. They filled out questionnaires that measured their satisfaction or the lack thereof in their relationship, their level of self-esteem while they're in a relationship, alcohol use, and jealousy.
Upon analyses, they found that many would turn their attention to alcohol in order to deal with jealousy. But it tends to be more pronounced for people who admitted that they were in low-quality relationships, such as being disconnected from their partners.
The researchers then explained that when a person is in a bad relationship, negative emotions start to take over, giving more motivation for the person to drink until he or she can feel he or she has coped with the jealousy.
The researchers hope that with their study, experts can give more significance on the effects of bad relationships and poor self-esteem especially on the tendency of a person to become alcoholic.
Alcoholism remains to be one of the leading reasons of preventable deaths in the country. At least 80,000 people will die every year due to excessive drinking alcohol. For one, it is a common risk factor of fatty liver disease, which, when not treated properly, may worsen into liver cirrhosis and cancer.
