16 Oct Believe It or Not: When to Turn to the Internet for Divorce Help
For most of us, it seems like the internet can solve just about every problem out there. Answers to questions like “where should we have dinner,” “how to fix a doorbell,” and “what are the most popular baby names of the year” are only a click away, and the power of search engines like Google to put massive amounts of information at our fingertips has fundamentally changed the way we solve problems. From advice blogs to “expert” forums, there is an incredible wealth of good, reliable information on the internet, and it can be tempting to turn to the world wide web with every imaginable ailment.
But in the case of divorce, is trusting the internet as a reliable source of information really a good idea? As anyone who has been through a divorce can tell you, the process is one of the most trying, stressful, emotional, and challenging life events there is. Or at least it can be if everything goes wrong, and disagreements get drawn out, as often happens in divorce. For such an intense and intricate challenge as divorce, is the internet really a good place to turn? In general, it all depends on what you are using the world wide web to accomplish. There’s a good and bad time to turn to the internet during divorce.
The Right Time to Use The Internet During a Divorce
One of the most challenging aspects of divorce is that affected individuals can feel tremendously isolated and lonely. Often, during marriage, spouses rely on each other for emotional support, and when the marriage ends that safety net falls away as well. The lack of emotional support is further compacted by social stigma that still consider divorce to be out of the ordinary and reprehensible, all of which results in unique emotional pressures on divorcing individuals.
And in these situations, turning to the internet can be a great idea and can lead to some very therapeutic interactions. There is a discussion forum and internet community out there for everything, and divorce is no exception. For individuals having a hard time coping with the loneliness and isolation of divorce, turning to strangers on the internet to find solace and talk about shared troubles can be a cathartic experience. It’s a great example of how you can use the internet the right way to answer some of the tough questions that come up during the separation process.
The Wrong Time to Use The Internet During a Divorce
Of course, the above situation relies on some significant assumptions. If you want to have a truly rewarding experience connecting with others through an online community, you have to be in a somewhat stable place to begin with. In many cases, the emotional stress of divorce can be so intense that nothing short of professional counseling can ease tensions. In that situation, turning to an online forum for comfort is probably not a great first choice. It’s a fine line, but an important one in illustrating more generally when it’s right and wrong to turn to the internet during a divorce.
Yes, the internet can seem like it has all the answers, but there is a lot of unsound and suspect information on the web right alongside the good and solid advice. Too often, individuals turn to the internet looking for advice when a professional’s opinion would be more appropriate. Similarly to how it’s a probably a bad idea to search WebMD when you are ill and symptoms get serious, it’s a bad idea to rely on the internet for emotional support when your challenges start to add up. In both cases, the expert opinion of a doctor is irreplaceable. And trying to replace that kind of expert input with the internet is a poor idea.
There Isn’t (Yet) a Reliable Internet Alternative for In-Person, Professional Advice
While there are a whole lot of blogs out there written by experts in every subject, you have to be suspect of everything you read on the internet. You have to be wary of who is really writing what, and what kinds of “authorities” wouldn’t stand up to scrutiny in the real world.
The wrong time to turn to the internet during a divorce is whenever you need some advice or help from a true, authoritative expert. While there are places online to find that kind of information, you need to be careful who and where you trust. No blog can help you answer your specific questions as well as a real-life professional that tailors advice to your particular situation can. When you need a lawyer or counselor or other professional authority to help guide you through the difficulty of divorce, don’t just turn to the internet. Or if you do, make sure that you also Google for the contact information of a good, reputable, real life expert in your area.