Breaking Bad: Decoding the Silent Treatment |
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The silent treatment can damage relationships.
Its relational toll can be serious and long-lasting.
Awareness is the first step to conquering this negative pattern.
Iconic comedian Phyllis Diller’s comedy centered around her relationship with her fictional husband, Fang. Included among the many pearls of wisdom she shared as a key to her successful marriage was, “We never go to bed mad. We stay up and fight!” This particular punchline delivers, intentionally or not, a sound piece of communication advice: Even in conflict, it is important to keep the lines of communication open.
Of course, in real life, the relational toll of poor communications is no laughing matter, and mutually respectful and honest communication is essential to a healthy relationship. The silent treatment, a seemingly innocent behavior characterized by an often painful and emotionally loaded silence, is in fact fraught with short- and long-term negative consequences.
The silent treatment is anything but silent or subtle.
The silent treatment, defined
A recently published systematic review of research describes the silent treatment as a form of “deliberate communication avoidance…a common form of social exclusion that significantly impacts close adult relationships.”
Often, in the heat of an argument, an individual will choose to go silent, refuse to respond, and ignore or exclude the person with whom they find themselves in conflict. The........