A long distance relationship can be the hardest experience you have ever gone through but also can be one of the greatest experiences you have ever gone through.  I have been in a long distance relationship for around three years now with my boyfriend I met in high school.  Neither of us have been perfect in our relationship and our relationship has suffered from this at times, however I would never trade anything in the world for him.  I can personally relate to all the emotions and struggles that Ron and Lindsay go through in the case study Distance Makes the Heart Grow Anxious: Managing Long-Distance and Commuter Relationships.  

    We meet Lindsay first and find out that she has just started her first year of college at the same university her brother attends.  Lance, Lindsay's older brother, visits her in her dorm and starts questioning if she is really serious about her relationship and how she expects to have fun in college with a boyfriend hundreds of miles away.  Lindsay assures her older brother that her relationship with Ron is worth the distance, and she can still go out with friends having fun while staying faithful.  Lindsay soon finds out it isn't as easy as it seems especially when you attend a party and everyone is paired up, but you.  She feels like she does not fit in with anyone; she can't go on double dates with her taken friends or go man searching with her single friends.  Lindsay begins to look at Ron's Facebook and sees that there is a girl continually showing up on his page.  Now the emotion of jealousy fills Lindsay head and with this emotion comes hurt and anger.  The next week she goes and visits Ron finding out things are completely different from what she was assuming.  Ron shows her around the campus and meets all of friends, including Pat, the girl posting on Ron's Facebook.  It ends up that Pat and Ron are so close because they both know what being a relationship with a girl is like, Pat is a lesbian.  Lindsay learns how hard it is to manage the emotions that come with a long distance relationship and how to remain connected with one another.  

    The presence theory is the biggest factor in Ron and Lindsay's relationship.  This theory is the explanation of how present you feel to someone without actually being with them.  There are three aspects that relate to cyberspace physical, social, and self presence.  First, the aspect of physical presence and that can be achieved by playing a computer game or xbox game.  It is some type of action that makes the two feel like they are together in a cyberspace.  Lindsay and Ron do this by playing Call of Duty every Wednesday evening with each other.  The second aspect is called social presence and this is achieved by texting each other through out the day.  It is the sense that you feel like you are with someone in a social setting.  Ron and Lindsay relate to this by texting and calling each other every day to tell each other what is going on in their lives.  Lastly, the third aspect is self presence and that can be identified as your "second life."  It is how you want people to interrupt you if they see your social media.  This is where there is tension in Lindsay and Ron's relationship because of what is happening on his Facebook page.  

    This girl, Pat, continues to appear on his Facebook page leaving comments or appearing in photos. This causes tension in to the relationship because many "what ifs" begin to disturb Lindsay.  She brings negative attention to the situation and assumes the worst, this is also an example of cognitive hijacking.  This is where something in our brain that we think gets affected by social media or media in general.  I also see the ads on Facebook that explain to you how to tell if your boyfriend is cheating on you.  The top sign is if a girl begins to take over his social media, and in this case that is what happened with Ron's page.  So when Lindsay first sees this of course she is thinking there is something going on and she is being betrayed.  Little did she know that Ron and Pat are strictly friends because Ron is not Pat's type at all.  Another interesting aspect of this case study is the relationship between Lindsay and Lance.

    Lance sees to be a firm believe in having fun in college entitles having lots of girlfriends and different experience.  While Lindsay is fine with having a serious relationship at a young age and sticking with that one man forever.  When Lance questions why Lindsay is trying to make a long distance relationship work in college and Lindsay explains that Ron is everything she has ever wanted.  Lance responds, " And this is from a women with a cast repertoire of, what, two other dating experiencers?"  Lance is threatening the face of Lindsay by threatening if she really knows what she is talking about.  The siblings do not see eye to eye on this concept because they both have different beliefs on what it means to go out and enjoy yourself.  We can also examine what type of family relationship pattern the two demonstrate.  Lance and Lindsay fall under the category of pluralistic patterns and we see this in how they tell each other everything.  It is shown that family has a very close connection and a perfect example of this is when Lance talks about his new girlfriend Jessica.  He explains all of her good qualifies and then states that Lindsay and their mom will love her.  He wants his family to know her and accept her into their life.  We can also look at how independent Lindsay and Lance are.  Specially Lindsay takes trips across the country to see her boyfriend and continues to do so to make her relationship work.  There is also different opinions in the family, specially between Lance and Lindsay and what college is about, but that does not stand in the way of their close connection.  

    From my personal experience, a long distance relationship either makes the couple ten times stronger or tears the relationship apart.  As Lindsay learns it is all about communicating and having trust in your significant other.  When there becomes a trust issue in the relationship things will start to break down and that is when communication is key.  It is a lot harder to bring a sensitive issue up in this type of relationship because you only have two options.  You can do it over the phone which can lead to someone being able to ignore the question by hanging up or other excuses.  Or you can wait till you see them again which causes you to think about it for a long time and possibility ruining the short amount of time you do have together.  Both people have to agree to have an honest relationship with each other and always have the best interest for the relationship.