Taking A Good Thing Too Far

As you might expect, this story from CNN was of particular interest to me (going to stray a bit from politics here).

There are other people I know and know of who put in a lot more time than I do plunking away on their keyboards in the same way I am at this moment, but still, I absolutely have to know when to break away from this stuff from time to time for at least two reasons: 1) I have to preserve my sanity, and 2) I have to get on with other things in life.

The story quotes Dr. Diane Wieland of nearby Lansdale, Pa., who I believe is a psychiatrist and has treated numerous individuals with what you might call “Internet addiction.” I give her credit for recognizing and trying to treat an emerging problem that shows no sign of disappearing anytime soon.

The reason why I’m saying something about the CNN story, though, is because of a phrase from Dr. Wieland that appears towards the end which caught my eye, and that phrase is “online marital infidelity.” That made me a bit curious, so I did some Google searching on it, and the only other occurrences of this phrase that I could find were in articles from other sites that either duplicated the article from CNN (or maybe CNN duplicated the article from elsewhere?) or contained text that was either written by or referenced to Dr. Wieland.

So, it seems like Dr. Wieland is the only person making this diagnosis.

I don’t have a science background, and I have to assume that the phrase “online marital infidelity” came out of Dr. Wieland’s clinical work with patients who may envision that this describes their online behavior in some cases. I don’t know what her politics or moral beliefs are. I SINCERELY HOPE that this diagnosis resulted from actual science and not a superimposition of her beliefs onto others.

Still, though, I think this represents a “slippery slope.” We know what infidelity is. It really isn’t a solo activity. And the fact that someone would assign it to another person who did something alone is kind of scary, actually. I could imagine a court proceeding where Dr. Wieland could be called as an expert witness and describe symptoms of “online marital infidelity” that could possibly be prejudicial to a defendant.

If someone believes that they have engaged in this type of behavior, then personally I think that is a matter they should discuss with some kind of spiritual counselor, whether it is a minister, a rabbi, a priest, or another designated person. I don’t think saying that someone’s behavior constitutes “infidelity” is a decision to be made by any life sciences professional.

On a wholly other note, I should point out that the “Real Time Update” for the finale of Bill Maher’s latest run of shows (with R&B singer John Legend, Richard Clarke, and Dr. Cornel West) will appear here sometime next week (taking my time with it since the show is now on hiatus and scheduled to return August 25th).