Editing Limerence (section)

=== Duration ===

Tennov estimates, based on both questionnaire and interview data, that limerence most commonly lasts between 18 months and three years with an average of two years, but may be as short as mere days or as long as a lifetime.<ref>{{harvnb|Tennov|1999|pp=141–142}}</ref> One woman wrote to Tennov about her mother's limerence which lasted 65 years.<ref name="wapo1990" /> Tennov calls it the worst case when the limerent person cannot get away, because the LO is a coworker or lives nearby.<ref name="wapo1990" /> Limerence can last indefinitely sometimes when it is [[Unrequited love|unrequited]], especially when reciprocation is uncertain. This could be such as when receiving mixed signals from an LO, or because of the [[intermittent reinforcement]] of an LO ignoring the limerent person for awhile and then suddenly calling.<ref name="thelovedrug" /><ref name=":5" /><ref name="mccracken" />

Tennov's estimate of 18 months to 3 years is sometimes used as the normal duration of romantic love.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last1=Marazziti |first1=Donatella |last2=Canale |first2=Domenico |date=2004 |title=Hormonal changes when falling in love |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0306453003001616 |journal=[[Psychoneuroendocrinology (journal)|Psychoneuroendocrinology]] |volume=29 |issue=7 |pages=931–936 |doi=10.1016/j.psyneuen.2003.08.006 |pmid=15177709}}</ref><ref name="proximateandultimate" /> The other common estimate, 12–18 months, comes from Donatella Marazziti's experiment comparing the serotonin levels of people in love with [[Obsessive–compulsive disorder|OCD]] patients.<ref name="fisher2016" /><ref name="marazziti" /> In this experiment, subjects who had fallen in love within the past 6 months (who were in a relationship) were measured to have [[serotonin]] levels which were different from controls, levels which returned to normal after 12–18 months.<ref name="marazziti" />

According to Tennov, ideally limerence will be replaced by another type of love.<ref name=":6" /> In this way, feelings may evolve over the duration of a relationship: "Those whose limerence was replaced by affectional bonding with the same partner might say, 'We were very much in love when we married; today we love each other very much.{{'"}}<ref>{{harvnb|Tennov|1999|p=243}}</ref> The more stable type of love which is usually the characteristic of long-term relationships is commonly called [[companionate love]], [[storge]] or [[Attachment theory|attachment]].<ref name="acevedo2009" /><ref name="4th-dim" /><ref name="fisher2002" />