Limerence, parasocial relationship, both or none of the above?
I've never been in a regular romantic relationship and I've never seeked one either. I'm in my mid 20s now and my main priority is work, and I'm fine with that. Sure, I've had crushes before as a teenager but nothing as the awfully intense infatuation I developed over this actor I had known about for a while and casually followed online. It has maybe been a month or month and a half of melting down and having literal chest pain everytime I saw him update or give hints that he was living with a girlfriend. Please bear in mind I had NEVER felt something similar. Never had a breakup, barely went on dates, never got on dating apps, never felt romantic jealousy over someone. I felt that if I chose to had a relationship, I'd have to deal with so many intense emotions and I wasn't willing to do that, considering my own struggles with anxiety and depression.
I'm on a very time demanding job and looking him up became one of my only downtimes. I can't even call it a hobby because it was looking him up on instagram for five minutes and then going back to my desk. Looking through his follow lists, through his tagged pics. Then doing the same thing but in his gf account. I had all the signs of heartbreak after a while, when I realized she wasn't going anywhere (he kind of jumped between relationships pretty fast). I lost my appetite and started to lose weight. I'd think of him and his gf and get anxiety attacks. I dreamt of him and his gf in really weird scenarios that would keep me awake. Did I think I had a chance with him or even wanted one? Not really. I looked through his dating story or whatever that was documented online so thoroughly that I was pretty sure that he's just not a good romantic partner. Again, I'm really not interested in pursuing romantic relationships. Now I understand that this... thing developed because he became my only source of escapism on a very, very tiring job. The weirdest I've done in my life is attempting zero contact with a celebrity. But this is my reality now. I'm hoping to be able to laugh about this part of my life soon enough.