ENVY

 

ENVY

 

Most people experience envy at some point in their lives. Envy seems to be part of the human condition.

 

What is envy?

 

Envy is a phenomenon that occurs when one person sees qualities in the other that they long to have in themselves. Often initially, the one who envies has feelings of admiration, liking and even enjoyment of the one they envy. At some point, these feelings of admiration of the other person may change to feelings of anger, hate or resentment, and at times can be accompanied by a wish to destroy or to take from the envied one.  

 

Research has shown that there is a spectrum of envy, from non-toxic envy which is most conscious, to toxic envy which is most out of our conscious awareness.  The more that envy is out of our conscious awareness, the more toxic it can be, and the more it can leak out in unexpected ways, in our daily interactions with others. 

 

Therapy can assist in the exploration of one’s envy, and can enable the possibility of  understanding the underlying fear, anxiety and grief, which in turn can ease and eventually dissipate the overwhelm of envy.

 

Research also has shown that as one’s sense of contentment and passion for life increases, the sense of envy, of wanting what another has, can diminish.