And iPhone Makes Three: Marriage In The Digital Age

Put spouses and their digital devices all in the same room and, well -- marriage therapists say they're hearing an earful about friction.

"The digital age hasn't introduced this problem, it simply gives us a more convenient means of checking out," says Tara Fritsch, a marriage counselor in Edmond (OK). Fritsch is hearing more and more clients complain about a spouse whose body may be right there but whose mind is off in cyberspace. Some say the best way to get their spouse's attention is to send a text -- from the next room! Others complain that a spouse's late-night e-mailing cuts into their sex life. "Closeness depends upon this rapidly disappearing phenomenon of undivided attention spread over time," says Edward Hallowell, a psychiatrist and co-author of Married to Distraction. Just think how hard it is to complete a work project amid a stream of interruptions, he says. "What you give up at work is depth. And what you give up in relationships is intimacy," Hallowell says.