How to deal with the Silent Treatment

One way to prevent a conflict from curdling into ostracism is to say out loud the exact amount of time you’ll be taking a break and to establish a timeline for when you’ll pick the conversation back up.

But when someone is using the silent treatment to exclude, punish, or control, the victim should tell the perpetrator that they wish to resolve the issue.

If the perpetrator still refuses to acknowledge the victim’s existence for long periods of time, it might be right to leave the relationship.