What does silence mean?
Silence can mean many things. It can mean yes, no, agreement or disagreement. It can imply contentment or dissatisfaction, safety or fear.
Toxic silence is used when you feel hurt, angry or upset by something another person says or does. Because letting them know how you feel makes you vulnerable, or because you feel it won’t matter anyway, or you feel you are being discounted, you decide to keep those feelings inside and withhold them from the other person.
Sulking, pouting, not answering, abrupt answers, ignoring the other person, giving them the “cold shoulder” are signs of this kind of silence, otherwise known as “the silent treatment.”
Many of us have a tendency to withdraw and withhold when we’re in emotional pain, especially from the person we perceive is causing it.Undoing this type of vicious cycle takes a mutual effort of trust. Therapy is often used to break this cycle.
Carrie
Just read your piece on silence. Oh I hear you. Pardon the pun. For me it is that I have said my piece so many times and won’t beg for her to be present in the relationship. I feel tension but not sure she does. Sad.