A long-distance relationship is kind of like a meth addiction.

You can’t quite kick the habit of being with that special someone, so you go to extraordinary lengths just to get a hit, be it the occasional school visit or telephone or video chat. Either you or your partner or sometimes both of you will become irritable, jealous and angry when you’re speaking to each other, but you’ll still feel shitty if you go too long without contact. Eventually, one of you will snap kill the other one, and blow up the meth lab that is your relationship.

But seriously, one of you might kill the other. Long-distance relationships are dangerous things.

For the purposes of this column I interviewed several people with extensive knowledge of (and experience in) long-distance relationships. Though each of their experiences was different and unique, all of them came to the same conclusion: Distance is a great way to kill a relationship, as well as drive yourself crazy in the process.

While away from one another, two individuals in a relationship will try to stay connected as much as possible, but in reality, we’re all in college. We all want to go out and live the college experience as much as possible.

From hanging out with friends on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon and getting absolutely nothing accomplished, to going out and partying it up on a Friday night (or Tuesday or Wednesday, you know the rest), there is so much to do and see in college! Being single in a group of single friends certainly makes it easier to enjoy the experience, as you’re all in the same boat and can help each other out accordingly. Nobody wants a ball and chain to stop them from taking in as much as possible.

Not to say that a boyfriend or a girlfriend is a bad thing to have in college (that is a topic for a different column, surely), but at least when you have a partner who attends the same school as you, they are actually there for you to see.

Imagine being Demi Moore (or the male equivalent) in the movie ‘Ghost.’ You go out to the bars, hang out with your friends, maybe even talk to a couple members of the opposite sex ‘ except the whole time you have a transparent Patrick Swayze who only you can see hovering over your shoulder and making you feel guilty as hell for enjoying yourself. Sounds like it would get pretty old pretty fast, right?

This is the key reason why long-distance relationships don’t work, especially in college.

This is not because your love will die and come back as a ghost to haunt you. You will always hold yourself back from enjoying certain aspects of your life, or you’ll feel guilty that you are enjoying yourself without your partner. And on top of that, there’s a good chance you’ll also experience some form of jealousy when you hear that your partner is doing the same thing.

But now comes the defense for staying together despite being miserable. You know the one, used by so many abused spouses and boyfriends/girlfriends when asked why they don’t just up and leave: ‘But I love him/her!’

Well, I hate to break it to you, but love can’t conquer all. In fact, after being a couple of hours apart for even a couple of months, let alone a year or more, that love is going to make you want to drink your sorrows away, or go pick fights with random strangers on State Street.

Your best bet is probably to periodically go visit the cause of your troubles, sit down and talk about where you both are in your relationship. Maybe the best thing for the both of you would be to take a break and see how you enjoy being single at school. Who knows, maybe you’re both still incredibly happy together, and your relationship will be that one in a million that can endure the long distance.

Hell, maybe the space you gain from the distance is what allows your relationship to weather the hard times. I’m not a psychic, despite what you may have heard. All I can do is offer my honest and humble advice and wish you all the best of luck. But if what I’m saying seems to make some sense to you, or sounds fairly familiar, do yourself a favor. Talk to your partner, take a break and enjoy college!

Do you really want to be married 15 years from now, reminiscing about all the things you wish you did, or happily remembering all the crazy shit that actually happened?

I don’t know about you, but I know which one I’ve chosen.