‘I just knew he loved me. I could see it in his eyes’: can a psychologist cure lovesickness?

Psychotherapist Frank Tallis on one of his most extreme cases: Megan, a married woman with an undying passion for her dentist

Megan was a conservatively dressed barrister's clerk in her mid-40s. Her hair was dark brown and styled in a neat bob. An uncharitable person might have described her as dowdy. Her GP's referral letter summarised the key facts of her case, which contained the essential elements of a tragic love story: emotional extremity, reckless abandon, passion and desire.

After a few introductory remarks about my role as a psychotherapist, I explained that I wanted to hear her version of events.