In 1979, Dorothy Tennov published Love and Limerence: The Experience of Being in Love, in which she made the case that some people fall into a distinct cognitive state in the early phase of romantic love, which she termed “limerence.”

Limerence is characterized by ecstasy and agony, by mood swings from euphoria to panicked anxiety, depending on whether the object of infatuation seems to return the limerent’s romantic interest. It’s a state of mental preoccupation, overarousal, and yearning—all focused on an insatiable desire to form a pair bond, an “ecstatic union,” with the beloved.

From the perspective of today’s neuroscience, the symptoms of limerence suggest that one person can become such a powerful natural reward that it is possible to effectively become addicted to them (Bellamy, 2025).

Despite the popularity of Tennov’s book, the concept of limerence has had little impact on academic psychology to date. Overshadowed by attachment theory and falling into the messy problem of definitions that bedevils love research (what exactly is the difference between manic love, passionate love, obsessive love, or addictive love?), limerence has not been widely adopted as an explanatory framework for early love experiences.

But the emotional resonance of the idea kept limerence alive in popular culture.

The advent of online communities led to a resurgence in interest in Tennov’s work, with people sharing their own personal limerence experiences and attempting to make sense of what limerence means for the initiation and maintenance of romantic........

© Psychology Today