Infatuation vs Love: How to Tell the Difference

difference crush vs love

When you meet someone you’re really into, it can be hard to tell whether you’re in love or what you’re feeling is infatuation. In the beginning, these two emotions can feel very alike, but time will tell whether it’s real love or a fleeting infatuation. Here’s how to tell the difference between infatuation and love.

Is it love or infatuation?

Whilst it’s hard to define infatuated love, it’s much like lust. It doesn’t last very long, and it can catch you off guard, leaving you feeling wonderfully dizzy and confused. However, it tends to disappear in no time at all. In comparison, love sticks around and weathers the storms of life, providing you with comfort and support at all times. It is kind and compassionate, reliable and trustworthy. Read on to discover if you’re in love or you’re simply in the midst of deep infatuation.

Infatuation happens immediately

Infatuation wastes no time, with those feelings of intoxicating lust hutting you right away! You’ll probably tell people you’re in love when they enquire about your dizzy, happy state, but what you’re actually feeling is deep infatuation. One of the biggest infatuation signs is if you fantasise about them constantly, imagining an amazing future with your lover. Having only just met them, they are a blank canvas waiting for you to imprint your own image of them.

Love takes its time

Unlike infatuation, love takes its time, creeping up on you without you even realising. How long it takes to fall in love with someone varies widely, but it certainly doesn’t happen right away. Love happens when you really know someone, and you’ve seen both sides of them. You’ve glimpsed who they really are and have been with them in good and bad times. You’ve weathered storms together and have come out stronger. Love is about seeing the whole person and still wanting to be with them.

Infatuation is all about perfection

If love is about seeing the whole person for who they really are, infatuation is about seeing the person you like as totally perfect. When you’re infatuated with someone, they’re flawless and without fault in your eyes. Infatuation feeds on the image of perfection, and without it, it can’t last. As soon as you see the object of your affection as ‘real’, infatuation no longer exists.

The difference between crush and love aren’t always clear in the early days of romance, becoming more obvious further down the line. You may be wondering ‘can infatuation turn into love?’ Whilst it’s certainly not unheard of, infatuation doesn’t usually progress into anything more. It usually stays just that, fading out once reality rears its head. If you want something that offers compassion, trust and chance to evolve together with someone, you should seek out true love.