(flickr.com/roland)

Going to therapy is not only costly, but it's just so empire. Know what the hip new way to confront your emotional problems is? Texting about them, of course.

Sociologists and psychologists have always argued that in-person communication trumps the digital when it comes to catharsis, but IT World reports that medical professionals are coming around in terms of the positive effects of textual communication.

Even the most impersonal digital means of contact delivers many of the same benefits as phone conversations or F2F [face to face] meetups according to a newly published study from a clinical psychologist at the University of California at Berkeley. Even profoundly depressed patients often reported feeling reassured, connected and cared for after receiving text messages from therapists, friends or others who appear concerned about their welfare.

You hear that? Soon, therapists will be replaced by automated computer programs that emulate the concern and medical expertise of a psychiatrist. Or people will stop paying for therapy because they'll realize they can get the same basic effects from texting a sad face and receiving the following reply: "Cheer ^! U r 2 awsum 2 b dis sad, smh."

We can feel our hearts mending already.