Debbi Wood is 55 years old and lives in Leicester, England. Everyone knows her as the world’s most jealous woman.
It’s not an exaggeration or just any nickname: doctors diagnosed her with Othello syndrome, a delusional disorder that convinces her, without evidence or any real reason, that her husband Steve is unfaithful. So she checks his phone, email, and bank accounts several times a day. She installed filters on her devices so she wouldn’t see photos of other women. She forbids him from watching television programs in which they appear. And every time Steve comes home from running an errand, she makes him take a homemade lie detector test to confirm that he didn’t cheat on her along the way.
Steve, who is also bipolar and has body dysmorphic disorder, says Debbi’s jealousy intensified when they started living together. She entered this relationship after years of hardship, marked by failed relationships and problems with alcohol. Five years after meeting, they are still together, trapped in a routine of control that science already has a name for.