Deep silence quote in a narcissistic relationship captures the devastating reality millions face daily. When narcissists weaponize silence through stonewalling and withdrawal, they create a psychological prison that erodes your self-worth. This calculated emotional abuse leaves you questioning your reality, desperate for any response.
The deafening quiet becomes more painful than arguments. You apologize for things you didn’t do, trying to break through their cold indifference. Days stretch into weeks of being ignored, treated like you don’t exist. This silent treatment isn’t about needing space—it’s about control, punishment, and keeping you off-balance.
Yet silence also becomes your pathway to freedom. Going no contact and maintaining your own protective silence breaks their hold. The same quietness that once tortured you transforms into strength. These quotes validate your experience, revealing how silence operates as both the narcissist’s cruelest weapon and your most powerful tool for healing and reclaiming your life.
77 Deep Silence Quotes In A Narcissistic Relationship
Insights from mental health professionals and experts on the silent treatment as a form of emotional abuse and manipulation
“The silent treatment is a form of emotional abuse typically employed by people with narcissistic tendencies.”
“It is designed to (1) place the abuser in a position of control; (2) silence the target’s attempts at assertion; (3) avoid conflict resolution/personal responsibility/compromise; or (4) punish the target for a perceived ego slight.”
“Often, the result of the silent treatment is exactly what the person with narcissism wishes to create: a reaction from the target and a sense of control.”
“Many people cut off their partners emotionally to hurt, punish, or manipulate them.”
“Being ignored is especially difficult for a person who is isolated by abuse and coercive control, and depends on the abuser’s approval to feel worthwhile and safe.”
“The silent treatment is an assertion of dominance and control.”
“The silent treatment is a head game where silence is used as a form of leverage.”
“Many people have conceded that abuse, in the form of some sort of response, was preferable to being iced out and treated like ‘something worthless.'”
“Narcissistic silent treatment carries this message to its victim: You are not worth anything in my life. You are not even worthy of one scrap of my attention.”
“The things and people who are no longer relevant to the present grandiose, fictitious, pathological needs of the False Self are deemed redundant and discarded accordingly.”
“When narcissists play the Silent Treatment game, it’s just that, a game.”
“Let the narcissist have the space implied by the Silent Treatment game and move on.”
“The best response to the Narcissist Silent Treatment game is to move forward with your common sense leading the way.”
“There is no need to waste emotional energy fretting over their moods.”
“The Silent Treatment. One of our most potent methods of manipulation.”
“What is our silence really telling you?… You mean nothing to us other than the fuel you provide.”
“When I have subjected you to another bout of silent treatment… No I am not [thinking about you]. You no longer exist to me. You never existed.”
“The method I used the most was the silent treatment. It is fantastic… This really messes with their mind.”
“The silent treatment is a brutal form of abuse, one that pins you against your own mind.”
“You declare war on your intuition and everything that you know to be true.”
“Instead, you will torture yourself, carrying out the remainder of the abuse for them.”
“The narcissist may abruptly ignore you as if you never meant anything to him or her.”
“Any attempts you make to get in contact may be met with complete silence.”
“You can give them complete and utter silence and do everything you can to heal and become an even better person without them.”
“By rendering them invisible, you starve them of the drama that they crave.”
“The silent treatment is a statement of contempt, relating, ‘You aren’t worth the energy it would take me to acknowledge your existence.'”
“The silent treatment is a technique of torture.”
“Its message is menacing and extortive—menacing in its implicit accusation of guilt, and extortive in the lose-lose proposition it makes.”
“The silencer’s aim is… to render the other invisible and, in so doing, induce in the other feelings of powerlessness and shame.”
“Going No Contact is a strategy primarily used to escape emotionally abusive or toxic relationships, particularly with narcissistic individuals.”
“The Silent Treatment, by contrast, is a passive-aggressive tactic that involves deliberately ignoring someone to manipulate, punish, or control them.”
“Let’s be very clear—narcissists use the silent treatment to punish, manipulate and maybe even get space to groom or be with other sources of narcissistic supply.”
“A person who has been suffering narcissistic abuse does No Contact to save their Soul.”
“A psychological abuse tactic utilized by individuals with narcissistic tendencies to halt communication.”
“The survivor is choosing to protect themselves from further abuse by a psychological abuser.”
“The effects of ostracism are a health concern.”
“Excluding and ignoring people, such as giving them the cold shoulder or silent treatment, are used to punish or manipulate.”
“When people are ostracized, it can affect their perceptions, physiological conditions, attitude and behavior—all of which sometimes can lead to aggression.”
“Emotional abuse… can include everything from verbal abuse to the silent treatment, domination to subtle manipulation.”
“You press your internal mute button… If appropriate, you masterfully hold the narcissist accountable, or you move on.”
“Meet his behavior with dignified silence.”
“During arguments… the narcissistic person just checks out and does not respond—or does so in a cold and clipped manner.”
“In a discussion or argument, the listener withdraws from the interaction… because they are feeling overwhelmed or physiologically flooded.”
“Someone who is stonewalling will be totally unresponsive—tuning out, turning away, acting busy, or engaging in obsessive behaviors.”
“The silent treatment… is an intentional refusal to acknowledge the other person. Often it intends to hurt the other person and to win the conflict.”
“The silent treatment is not helpful and is a passive aggressive form of punishment.”
“He manipulates, punishes and attempts to control the other person through protracted silence.”
“From the first silent treatment, the narcissist gets the amazing results he had hoped for—the immense suffering of his partner at his own still voice.”
“The bottom line is that the silent treatment sends an awful message to the recipient.”
“We become codependent upon the drone of the white narcissistic noise.”
“Never are we more aware of this dependency than when all that noise is deliberately snuffed out by a silent treatment.”
“Any of your attempts to improve communication will typically result in the silent treatment.”
“You apologize and forgive quickly, otherwise you know they’ll lose interest in you.”
“When you feel angry and hurt because of their silent treatment… they say there is something wrong with you.”
“Trust yourself, and when necessary follow your best instincts.”
“Taking a time-out should lead to improved communication and collaboration, whereas the silent treatment is an assertion of dominance and control.”
“I tell my clients a difference that I see is the intent: The silent treatment is meant to hurt the other person; stonewalling is flooding and self-preservation.”
“If you have encountered a narcissist in love, work or family, then you surely have experienced the dreaded silent treatment.”
“The deployment of the silent treatment is frankly one of the most sadistic, cruel and immature forms of psychological abuse.”
“The silent treatment is the destroyer of self-esteem and a recipe for alienation.”
“When silence is used as a weapon it can wound even more than words.”
“The silent treatment is not a coping mechanism, it’s emotional warfare.”
“No Contact is a way to remove this abusive person’s toxic influence so we can live happier, healthier lives.”
“Full No Contact requires that we do not interact with this person in any manner or through any medium.”
“Every act of silence is a protection against psychological violence.”
“The withholding of [basic] recognition, especially if protracted, can have soul-warping consequences on personality.”
“If [the silent treatment] goes on too long and the other person continues to try to engage, it can make the victim feel crazy and desperate.”
“By deliberately not responding to your reasonable calls… the manipulator presumes power by making you wait, and intends to place doubt and uncertainty in your mind.”
“The silent treatment feels more like the game from childhood where everyone ignores the target and pretends they don’t exist.”
“Detaching doesn’t necessarily require silence and no conversations.”
“Stonewalling happens when someone emotionally shuts down and withdraws from the interaction.”
“Whether it is a present silent treatment… or an absent silent treatment where we disappear and cannot be found or contacted, we know that this is highly effective.”
“Weaponizing silence can… negatively impact whoever is on the receiving end, whether the motive is passive-aggressive pettiness, a vindictive power-play, or severe punishment.”
“The only way you will lose is if you enter into the contest. And that’s not necessary.”
“Silent treatment fails to satisfy [attachment] longings and also reflects withholding and emotional abandonment.”
“Clearly, silent treatment creates an atmosphere of anxiety, fear, and sadness that preclude an underlying sense of safety.”
“Stonewalling and the silent treatment can look very similar… The silent treatment is meant to hurt the other person where stonewalling is flooding and self‑preservation.”
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