Jealousy is complicated. It’s not something that you like to admit to feeling, and despite how common it is, it’s seen as a negative character trait. However, jealousy is a completely normal feeling to have. It’s especially normal to feel towards friends, especially if you’re insecure about yourself and/or your standing with your friend. By now, you are probably very familiar with this feeling and know how to deal with it.

But how do you deal when it’s your friend who is being the jealous one? Maybe she gets mad when you hang out with other people. Or maybe she gets upset that you got a better grade than her in a class, or that your love life is going well when hers isn’t. Whatever the issue may be, how do you handle a jealous friend? Here are our top tips.

Table of Contents

1. Start a conversation

If your friend is occasionally jealous, maybe that’s no big deal. But if it’s happening a lot and is affecting how you feel about this friend, you need to start a conversation about their jealousy. Yes, this is an uncomfortable thing to do, but the only way they’re going to know that you’re upset is if you tell them. 

Make sure not to attack your friend when you’re bringing up their jealousy. Don’t make them feel like it is all their fault. Assume the best about your friend and start from a place of “this is just a small issue that can be fixed.” After all, in most cases, that’s correct.

2. Take time to listen and understand

Even though you may feel that you need to take immediate action to make sure that your friend doesn’t get jealous again, they might just need to have someone listen to how they’re feeling. Sometimes, the best solution is just talking it out with them.