Is jealousy in a relationship always a red flag, or can it be normal?

A small, occasional pang of jealousy is pretty human — it usually just means you care about someone and fear losing them, and that's not automatically a problem.

What makes it a red flag isn't the feeling itself, but what someone does with it — controlling behavior, constant accusations, or using it to justify monitoring your partner crosses a line that has nothing to do with love.

Healthy relationships have room for honest conversations about insecurity without one person having to shrink their whole life to manage the other's jealousy.