Do you know what Capgras syndrome or de Clérambault's syndrome is? Is someone in your vicinity suffering from a delusional jealousy disorder? Or merely perfectionism? These are various more or less obscure aspects of the phenomenon known as infatuation. British psychologist and psychotherapist Frank Tallis enjoys exploring the darker sides of the human psyche in his practice. In this book, inspired by the work of the Roman philosopher Titus Lucretius Carus 'On the Nature of Things', which compares falling in love to madness, he has gathered stories of his patients who, in one way or another, suffered from symptoms of extreme infatuation, 'abnormal love', where the afflicted is tormented by delusions, unable to objectively assess the situation, and lives as if in a perpetual hallucination. Twelve stories straddling the line between non-fiction and fiction examine many fascinating aspects of love, its eternity, destructiveness, and uncontrollability.
