To the particular person on the receiving finish of the silent remedy, the results can completely be hurtful and even detrimental to the connection, relying on how extreme the remedy.

Web page cites analysis referred to as the “still-face experiment1,” for instance, wherein moms gave toddlers impassive reactions and silence for an prolonged time frame. On this experiment, he says, the infants make fixed bids for connection. They fight, it would not work, and the infants freak out and begin crying. And finally, they withdraw and pull into themselves.

“If you wish to perceive the results of the deep silence, that is form of what we create with it,” Web page explains, including that there is a motive solitary confinement is taken into account the worst punishment in jail.

In relationships between adults, he says, irrespective of the rationale behind the conduct, the particular person on the receiving finish goes to really feel dejected, remoted, indignant, and/or confused. “Excessive silent remedy is unequivocally a type of abuse,” he provides, noting that even subtler varieties can nonetheless be dangerous to the connection.

And for what it is price, Web page provides, {couples} who’ve a “low threshold for permitting battle” (aka they might fairly speak issues out than let issues fester) are literally happier of their relationships than {couples} with a better threshold for battle (aka they “let issues go,” aka ignore issues).

“We regularly defer to silence and avoidance as a method to protect the connection—however it really does precisely the alternative—and the opposite particular person experiences your silence as absence and avoidance,” Web page explains.