A woman who has a rare condition that causes delusional jealously makes her fiancé take a lie detector test every time he leaves the house.

Debbi Wood, 42, who lives in Leicester, is so paranoid that her partner Steve Wood, 30, will stray, she checks his phone and email accounts several times a day.

In September, Debbi was diagnosed with Othello Syndrome – a psychiatric disorder which makes her convinced that Steve has been unfaithful.

Debbi said: “Even if Steve pops out for 15 minutes to buy a pint of milk, I make him take a lie detector test as soon as he gets home.

“I get so worried that he’s been eyeing up the shop assistant that I just have to know the truth.

“It’s cost me a lot to talk about my syndrome and I’ve done it because there are a lot of people who have this and don’t know about it.”

Steve, who met Debbi over Facebook in 2011, is even banned from having girls as friends, or watching women on television and looking at photos of them.

“I’ve only been like this over the past year”, said Debbi. “When I started to make Steve take a lie detector test, that’s when I thought – this just isn’t normal.”

Debbi said that her jealously stems from the beginning of their relationship, when Steve was seeing her and another woman at the same time.

“I thought we were exclusive but then I got a message on Facebook from another woman saying that she had also been seeing Steve.

“It’s our past that haunts us.

“I think he’s gorgeous, but that’s not the issue – it’s about whether or not I can trust him not to look at other women while he is out on his own. I don’t want him thinking they’re hot.

“If you’re in a relationship and you’re happy with your partner, you should only have eyes for that person.”

Debbi, who also suffers with bipolar and body dysmorphic disorders, said that her jealously got worse when the pair moved in together in September.

“One night, an advert for a women’s razor came on television and I felt panicky thinking that Steve was eyeing the model up.

“The only thing that could put my mind at rest was banning him from watching any programmes that have women in them.

“That’s why I decided to order the lie detector online. It was my only way of knowing for sure if Steve’s eyes were wandering.”

Although she does not know if there is a cure for Othello Syndrome, Debbi said that she has “cut back a lot” on the lie detector since being diagnosed.

“I’m starting to learn to trust him more.

“My issues are definitely a lot easier to handle now.

“I just want to be normal and find a cure.”

Steve, who proposed to Debbi in May said that he loves his fiancée “for who she is”.

He said: “I understand where this comes from and why she is like it.”

Steve agreed that there has been a clear change since Debbi’s diagnosis.

“The arguments have become fewer and further apart,” he added. “At the end of the day, I wouldn’t have proposed to her if I didn’t feel there was hope.

“I’m willing to put up with it because I know we’re soul mates. She’s so special to me and a bit of jealousy here and there won’t change that.”

Read more: Leicestermercury