Understanding Love Anxiety

Love Anxiety, as used on LUMA, describes a pattern of relational threat responses that can appear at any stage of a romantic relationship — from the possibility of finding love, through the early stages of expressing interest, into an established relationship, and beyond into questions about its long-term future.

It can show up as worry, tension, rumination, avoidance, reassurance seeking, jealousy, monitoring, fear of rejection, fear of loss, or anxiety about the future — but it is not equivalent to General Anxiety, Attachment Anxiety, Dating Anxiety, Fear of Being Single, Relationship OCD, or Relational Uncertainty as those constructs are studied elsewhere. LUMA treats it as an integrative, cross-stage, relational-threat-oriented construct in its own right.

LUMA does not diagnose Love Anxiety Disorder, clinical anxiety, or any mental health condition. It is designed for psychological self-reflection, education, and research.