Silent treatment

Silent treatment refers to not talking to someone, possibly following conflict, hurt, anger, or emotional distress. It can take many forms and have very different motivations and meanings. It may range from just sulking, to a self protective response or a coping mechanism, where one may withdraw because they feel overwhelmed, hurt, inadequate, or unable to express their emotions safely, to a form of deliberate psychological manipulation.

According to couple therapist Figs O'Sullivan, it is not necessarily abusive or even malevolent, and might range from protective silence as a survival mechanism, to a learned behavior, not necessarily malicious, possibly stemming from growing up in an environment where openly expressing anger or disagreement was discouraged or unsafe, to an intentional, sustained manipulation designed to break down the other person in order to dominate them, which gets into emotional abuse territory.