How is limerance different from crushes and stalking?
So I've been reading up on limerance as part of my psych Msc and I'm struggling to see how it's a separate experience to crushes and stalking.
It's reading like someone who is shaming people for having intense crushes, giving stalkers a less serious term to use as a way out, and I keep seeing people say "if you're neurodivergent and have a crush, it's likely just limerance" which feels problematic as hell.
• People experiencing limerance loose their appetite: That's a normal reaction to the dopamine you're experiencing? Your receptors react similar to when you're doing something you enjoy and forget to eat.
• People with limerance constantly worry about what their limerant object thinks about them: How's that different from having a crush? Nobody wants to look stupid infront of their crush. We all want look out best infront of them.
• Limerance is when you monitor everything single thing that person does: I'm fairly certain that's just stalking???
• Limerance is when youre emotionally effected by what they post on social media: Isn't it normal to be emotionally effected by what someone posts? Surely that's just normal consumption of social media because there's so many kinds of posts that count on that principle such as memes and fundraising.
•Limerance makes you feel more intense emotions than a crush does: I think to a certain extent it's not our business to police how intensely someone can feel towards another? And if the intense emotions do justify policing surely that's then obsession which falls into the realms of stalking.
Is there something I'm missing? I've read the current psychology research papers on top of articles and watching videos but I'm still not seeing the point of making limerance it's own distinct emotional experience.
Ps: Sorry for the long post, I tried to separate it out to make it easier to read.