Help!

I had a meeting with one of my professors today, in the hopes of honing down my interests into one tangible focus. One of the great and tricky things about studying Psychology is that any phenomena in the human experience is available for studying. This, of course, makes the field both rich with opportunities and inspiration, and also hard to find specific focus in. When I first entered the program, there were two phenomena that I was interested in studying: computer mediated communication and political psychology. I have since lost interest in studying politics, but the computer angle still intrigues me. Basically computer mediated communication deals with the understanding of how sites like Facebook, Myspace, and various other online communities affect the way that we act in our relationships. Do these sites strengthen our friendships, deteriorate them, alter them, or leave them unaffected? This field dabbles in both Communication and Psychology, depending upon the researcher's angles and interests.

I have also acquired two newly-inspired interests since entering the program, both of which are inspired by my personal experiences. The first of which involves the relationship between friends before and after marriage. It seems, based on my own story and those that I've heard from my friends, colleagues, and family, that an unconscious rift is created between friends and married couples after the wedding. Often, as early as two weeks or as long as a month after the ceremony, the married couple finds itself wondering, "where did everybody go?" Whether this phenomena is a result of the learned understanding of 'marriage' as something that demands privacy, or an assumption that a married couple is no longer interested in late-night fun (which is sometimes true), or even the married couple unconsciously removing itself from it's previous relationships... I just don't know, but I find it fascinating. If anyone has similar stories or feedback about this, I'd love to hear it!

My third interest is one that has not yet been studied in depth within a psychological concept, but I feel it absolutely should. It concerns food allergies and their impact on self-esteem. It may seem like an odd concept, but anyone who suffers from some sort of food allergy has, often on a regular basis, been subject to comments such as: "Oh, that's terrible," "I'm so sorry for you," or my personal favorite, "This is delicious... oh, wait... I forgot that you can't eat this. You're really missing out!" I have only been dealing with my allergy for two years, but the people I've known who have suffered from some sort of intolerance their whole lives seem greatly effected by (and often overly defensive about) comments such as these. Through a Community Psychology setting, I could not only study the relevance of this phenomena, but also potentially set up support groups, information centers, and self-help lines to create a sense of community and support for people like myself and many others.

I have not yet decided which of these areas to focus on for my graduate research, but I am definitely leaning toward the latter two. Again, any feedback or personal stories would be wonderful to hear and take into consideration. Help is always appreciated! Thanks!