🚩 The biggest red flag you’ll ever see is the one you’re too close to ignore.

When it comes to personal safety, most people worry about threats from strangers. But statistically, the most dangerous threats often come from someone you know — or someone who believes they know you in an obsessive way.

One of the biggest hidden drivers of these intimate threats is a psychological state called limerence — a form of obsessive infatuation that looks like love but acts like an addiction.

When someone is caught in limerence, their thoughts, emotions, and behaviors can turn controlling, unpredictable, and dangerous — especially when they sense rejection or loss of control.

This is where the Intimacy Effect comes in. The intimacy effect in threat assessment refers to the heightened risk of violence when threats are made within an intimate relationship. It suggests that the closer the relationship, the more seriously a direct death threat should be taken as an indicator of potential future violence Between an anonymous online troll and an abusive partner threatening to kill you if you ever leave — the intimate threat is the one to take most seriously.

Understanding the signs can help you recognize when a threat is more than just words — and when it’s time to get distance, support, and help immediately.

Bottom Line:
Conditional threats from an intimate partner are far more likely to become deadly than direct threats from strangers, especially when there’s a history of violence and an explicit threat tied to your actions, similar to, “‘If you ever leave me, I’ll kill you.’”

If you see that red flag waving:
👉 Trust your gut.
👉 Get to safety.
👉 Call for help — fast.