{"id":75921,"date":"2024-01-26T16:34:29","date_gmt":"2024-01-26T14:34:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/visualjournalism.de\/?post_type=magazin&p=75921"},"modified":"2026-10-31T18:21:14","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T16:21:14","slug":"toxic-silence-when-silence-becomes-torture","status":"publish","type":"magazin","link":"https:\/\/visualjournalism.de\/en\/magazine\/silence\/toxic-silence-when-silence-becomes-torture\/","title":{"rendered":"Toxic silence: when silence becomes torture"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n
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\r\n Toxic silence: when silence becomes torture <\/h2>\r\n\r\n
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No word, no explanation, no look: how deliberately ignoring someone hurts \u2013 and leaves its mark on many people from childhood.
\nBy Charlotte Wilke<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/div>\r\n \r\n

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\u2018Silent treatment\u2019, or toxic silence,<\/strong> is a negative communication strategy in which one person deliberately stops talking to another in order to exert power or control. The American psychologist Harriet Braiker identifies the silent treatment as a form of manipulative punishment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But how does toxic silence affect the development of children and young people? \u2018Ignoring is a terrible way to punish a child,\u2019 says child and adolescent therapist Ulrich M\u00fcller, head of the master\u2019s programme \u2018Therapeutic Work with Children and Adolescents\u2019 at Hochschule Hannover<\/a>. Yet there are many parents who use this parenting strategy and deliberately meet conflict with silence.

This is borne out on various online platforms, where many of those affected share and discuss their experiences. \u2018My mother always gave me the silent treatment. Often I didn\u2019t even know why,\u2019 Julie comments under a post on the website TollaBea. Debora describes similar experiences: \u2018It usually went on for days, sometimes even weeks. The other people in the house were treated normally \u2013 only I was thin air.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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