Limerence, Hidden Obsession, Fixation, and Rumination: A Scoping Review of Human Behaviour

Abstract

AbstractThis systematic scoping review explores the behavioural state of limerence and the relationship it has with rumination as part of a precursory phase to stalking, for the purpose of identifying a trajectory in harmful human behaviour. The review also considers how limerence impacts those who experience it, as well as factors which serve as accelerants to this cognitive state. It examines cognitive disorders identifiable on the DSM-5, such as obsessive–compulsive disorders, autism spectrum disorders, and erotomania, and applies them to studies which conceptualise limerence as an obsessive behaviour. At present, there is extraordinarily limited literature focusing on this state of unrequited and intense human emotion towards another person—a phenomenon characterised by limited by self-awareness and restraint, yet also a state that involves obsession and fixation, sharing cognitive characteristics and behaviours intrinsically tied to stalking behaviours. This review argues that behaviours exhibited in a state of limerence can serve as the building blocks upon which more harmful, externally focused stalking behaviours could develop. This review identified that the emerging literature on limerence offers new and important insights into the psychology of obsessive desire as a precursor to other, more proximal forms of violence which warrant greater attention, as they do not fit into existing psychological classifications of obsession because these behaviours are motivated by a lack of reciprocation and rejection. The objective is not to label individuals experiencing limerence as deviant but, rather, to better understand how fixation and obsessive desire can be maintained in the absence of approach behaviours.