Dr. Alok Kanuja (Dr. K)

So attachment isn't really sufficient to describe limerence, right?

So anxious attachment style, ideal swooper, let's call it that.

That's just one piece.

But there are a lot of people with anxious attachment style who don't have limerence.

So the other feature that we're going to talk about is something that's really, I think, something along the OCD spectrum.

So if we look at limerence, it's characterized by a lot of like, I don't know how to say this, but like the, you know, the nuts and bolts of the mental process of limerence are very similar to OCD.

And then there's another feature, which is that they're divorced from reality, right?

So this is also consistent with OCD.

So if we think about someone who is like a germaphobe, like the amount of fear that the germs evokes, like, sure, germs can make you sick.

But the whole point is that your mind does way more with a small stimulus than, let's say, a healthy mind would do.

That's the nature of OCD.

Okay.

The other really interesting thing is that if you look at limerence, there's a lot of ritualization associated with it.

So people will do things, they will engage in certain actions to try to like, so it's ritualistic.

They'll do certain things to get this person's attention.

They'll dress a certain way.

Oh, this person talked to me on this day because I was wearing red.

So I'm going to start wearing red all the time.

There's a lot of ritualism associated with limerence.

And then the last thing is kind of the compulsive nature of it.