Silent treatment is mostly aimed to intimidate and make the victim feel dejected and unhappy. Therefore, the best way to deal with it is to remain unaffected and continue with your daily tasks without bothering much about the person who is giving you the silent treatment. Here are some ways to deal with it.
Make an attempt to talk first
Many people who attempt silent treatment are shy themselves and could be finding it difficult to approach you with the problem. If you are dealing with a person with such a personality, it helps if you can make the first move and try if he/she relents to the advances. Be pleasant and ask what the reason behind such a treatment is. Let the person know that you are willing to listen and make amends if the fault is on your part. Make the person understand that it does not help in any way to remain silent and things will only become worse the more you try to remain silent and avoid a confrontation. Be persistent and draw the person out of the hard shell he has created around him. Persistence from your part and a willingness to listen will help in making him talk.
Remain cool and composed
Many people who give the silent treatment subconsciously want the other person to suffer and be sad because they do not know what the reason behind the silence and rejection is. Most victims fall for this motive and remain unhappy all throughout the silent treatment. If you are the type who is very subdued and weak, the stress becomes double fold. Understand that remaining unhappy will only cause the person executing the silent treatment to rejoice and continue with the treatment for as much time as he/she wants. Therefore, understand the personâs motive and make sure that you show him/her that you are very cool and composed and remain happy despite the silent treatment that is being meted out to you. This will make the person feel unhappy about the outcome and when the person feels that things are not shaping out as planned, he/she will drop the plan and start being more cooperative.
Wait and watch
At times, it pays to just remain cool and normal and wait for the person to break the silence rather than make a big hue and cry about it. It could be that the person is just in a bad mood and may not necessarily be angry at you. Wait for a couple of days and see if the personâs attitude changes. For some people, the silence and aloofness can become too overpowering to handle and they themselves will take the initiative to break the silence rather than drag it on. You can take this approach if you are sure that you are not the cause behind the silent treatment. This is also a way of giving the person space and solitude to recover from his bad mood before he/she comes back to you. However, waiting and watching must not be done for several days together. It can go on for a maximum of two days after which you must really assess as to what exactly is the problem, failing which the person will get the wrong impression that you are trying to ignore his/her problems or avoid him/her.
Ignore the person
Though this not recommended normally as it can make matters worse if not handled carefully, ignoring the person is a way of paying him in the same coin. Ignoring the person must be done only if you are very sure that it will work. Assess the personâs mentality before doing this. People who are generally very irritable and difficult to deal with will take ignoring as an insult and this will again only spoil the relationship and lead to more problems. Try ignoring for some time and check the personâs response before you go on. If you feel that things are getting worse, stop this practice and try to make amends amicably.
Check with others before you move on
If you are in a relationship and if the silent treatment gets increasingly difficult to handle and frequent, you need to assess your relationship status. Probably, you are not happy in the relationship and itâs time to move on. Check with others whether the real reason for the silent treatment is you or whether there is anything else that is causing this particular behavior. If your partner seems to be ok with others, then you can safely assume that he has an issue only with you. Make a last attempt to talk to the person before you decide to part ways.
