Here’s an interesting article from The Week that outlines some of the history of Dorothy Tennov’s work, and the current tendency to push limerence as a term reserved for pathological obsessive love.
As I’ve said before, I’m not convinced of the value of rebranding limerence as a disorder, as it is a normal part of many people’s experience of love. Tennov certainly didn’t intend this meaning. It will be interesting to see how the field develops.
it would be argued limerence becomes a a disorder if the guy was having an affair and had a family and it caused uncontrollable harm, if they were otherwise incapable of holding down a loving relationship, if it distracted them from true love, or they spent too much time obsessing, or at breakup they attempted suicide. is that really a disorder or a normal part of the love experience