The silent treatment, also known as the cold shoulder, stonewalling or love withdrawal, can be incredibly damaging. It can make you nervous, frightened, confused and lonely.
While it is healthy to take some quiet time from an argument or upsetting event to lessen tension, gather thoughts and proceed mindfully, silence, with the sole intention to hurt someone, is manipulative.
It is abuse. As a child, the main form of discipline I endured was silence. My father would withhold all attention, affection and physically turn away from me when I was near him.
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