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.

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The negative effects of the Silent Treatment

“In the short term, the silent treatment causes stress. In the long term, the stress can be considered abuse.”

In serious cases, ostracism can take a heavy toll whereby victims become anxious, withdrawn, depre...

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The Silent Treatment

The silent treatment goes by many names: shunning, social isolation, stonewalling, ghosting. Although psychologists have nuanced definitions for each term, they are all essentially forms of ostracism.

The silent treatment is a parti...

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Why people use the Silent Treatment

“People use the silent treatment because they can get away with it without looking abusive to others,” Williams explained, “and because it’s highly effective in making the targeted individual feel bad.”