Is The Silent Treatment Ever A Good Idea?

The silent treatment is dangerous.

According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, research finds “the demand-withdraw pattern to be one of the most damaging types of relationship conflict and one of the hardest patterns to break.” When people exhibit this pattern, communication, intimacy and relationship satisfaction plummet. People become less agreeable and conscientious and more aggressive and neurotic. They have urinary and bowel problems, weakened immune systems, and even erectile dysfunction. Clearly, something needs to change.

Of course, silence itself is not the problem. After all, a moment of silence allows us to honor precious memories or gather our thoughts before speaking. But with the silent treatment, something golden becomes punitive and quietly aggressive. Extended silence functions as a relationship weapon. We need to lay down this weapon and face our disagreements in a constructive way.

Is The Silent Treatment Ever A Good Idea? was originally published on wzakcleveland.com