What you'll learn

• 1 (00:00) **Program Open & Host Introduction** - Host Marielle Segarra introduces the topic of romantic obsession through an anecdote about a bird trying to mate with a windup toy.
• 2 (01:13) **Defining Limerence and When It Becomes Unhealthy** - Tom Bellamy explains limerence as an altered mental state, like love intoxication, and describes when it turns negative.
• 3 (02:56) **Tom's Personal Experience with Limerence** - Tom shares that he started researching limerence after experiencing it himself while happily married.
• 4 (04:09) **Symptoms of Limerence** - Marielle reads a list of characteristic symptoms from Tom's book, including intrusive thoughts, need for reciprocation, and mood dependency.
• 5 (07:25) **Limerence as a Gambling Addiction** - Tom explains how unhealthy limerence works like a slot machine through intermittent reinforcement.
• 6 (10:50) **The Neuroscience of Wanting vs. Liking** - Tom discusses how you can still want someone even after you stop liking them, and why understanding this is helpful.
• 7 (12:24) **Strategy 1: Shift Your Mindset** - Tom outlines the first step to overcoming limerence: recognizing it's happening in your own mind.

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app