Researchers from Stony Brook University have declared that excessive co-rumination--perhaps you would refer to it as "chatting with your friends about your problems"--by text, e-mail and on social-networking sites leaves impressionable teenage girls more prone to anxiety and depression.

"There is a wealth of communication technology available to teens today that allows them to talk over and over again about the same emotional difficulties," declared Joanne Davila, the psychology professor who led the research.

They concluded that the more the girls discussed their romantic ups and downs with their friends online, the more they became candidates for Prozac. And the more extensive their romantic adventures, the more they wanted to talk about them. With depressing consequences.

Isn't the truth really that we are all victims of the promise of the romantic ideal? The failure to get there makes everyone miserable.