Most psychologists indicate that it depends on the situation. When silence, or, rather, the refusal to engage in a conversation, is used as a control tactic to exert power in a relationship, then it becomes "the silent treatment," which is toxic, unhealthy, and abusive.
Here's why the silent treatment can be damaging: It can cause emotional trauma. A person who is ignored feels a wide range of confusing emotions. They may feel anger, sadness, frustration, guilt, despair, and loneliness, all at once.
Read this. Ignoring someone is not an act of love. In fact, silent treatment qualifies as abuse. The silent treatment sabotages you and your relationships by causing emotional trauma or stress, causing psychological stress, serious physical side effects, behavioral changes, and finally it can destroy relationships.
Some partners may have communication challenges about expressing emotions, particularly if they're upset. But, deliberately ignoring or disengaging from you can be a form of toxic relationship punishment.
It can lead to negative emotions, like distress and anger. In addition, people who are often ignored tend to have lower self-esteem and feel that their lives have less meaning. When people use silent treatment, it can have huge psychological consequences for the person they are ignoring.
In fact, some therapists call the silent treatment a form of gaslighting, used to cause personal uncertainty, and a sense of doubt when considering goals, self-views and worldviews.
The silent treatment, or stonewalling, is a passive-aggressive form of manipulation and can be considered emotional abuse. It is a way to control another person by withholding communication, refusing to talk, or ignoring the person.
Research has found that people who received the silent treatment experienced a threat to their needs of belonging, self-esteem, control, and meaningful existence. This type of behavior reinforces the feeling that someone we care about wants nothing to do with us. It can feel as though you don't exist.
Toxic behavior definition refers to a person whose behavior and ongoing actions cause harm to other people by physical or mental means. These are the people who spread negative or toxic stress or traumas on others behavior.
The four behaviours are Blaming, Contempt, Defensiveness and Stonewalling. Relationship expert Dr John Gottman termed these "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" as they spell disaster for any personal or professional relationship.
Overview. Antisocial personality disorder, sometimes called sociopathy, is a mental health condition in which a person consistently shows no regard for right and wrong and ignores the rights and feelings of others.
People who use the silent treatment may even refuse to acknowledge the presence of the other person. People use the silent treatment in many types of relationship, including romantic relationships. It can sometimes be a form of emotional abuse.
If someone displays unmanageable emotions and easily flies off the handle, this is a serious red flag. Responding with uncontrollable rage or the "silent treatment" could point to abusive (physical or emotional) behavior in the future, says Trombetti.
I have found that the true power of ignoring someone who hurts or bothers you is that it sets you free from them, enabling you to pursue your own happiness. Freedom comes when you learn to let go. creation comes when you learn to say no. It all depends upon what type of situation exists.
The silent treatment might be employed by passive personality types to avoid conflict and confrontation, while strong personality types use it to punish or control. Some people may not even consciously choose it at all.
Silent treatment can be an immature way of dealing with situations and its practice should not be made a habit of. Imagine you have upset your loved one for some reason and they are angry with you.
It involves refusing to communicate with someone who is willing to communicate. Whether you call it the cold shoulder, freezing someone out, or shunning, the silent treatment can be a damaging choice of response. In the world of conflict, no response is quite as notorious or abused as the silent treatment.
If a relationship stops bringing joy, and instead consistently makes you feel sad, angry, anxious or “resigned, like you've sold out,” it may be toxic, Glass says. You may also find yourself envious of happy couples. Fuller says negative shifts in your mental health, personality or self-esteem are all red flags, too.
There are generally three types of toxic entities; chemical, biological, and physical. Chemicals include inorganic substances such as lead, hydrofluoric acid, and chlorine gas, organic compounds such as methyl alcohol, most medications, and poisons from living things.
If you ignore someone because you want to break up and don't want to deal with the potential fallout, you ghost them. This to you may seem harmless. You might think they will get the picture, and you may be afraid you'll say the wrong thing. Not wanting to hurt the other person is always the excuse.
Research finds that feeling ignored can affect people's sensory perceptions, such as feeling that surroundings seem quieter. Being ignored creates feelings of self-doubt, feeling a lack of control, and feeling not worthy of attention.