The Punishment Of Indifference
We are human because we are in constant interaction with others. For this reason it is so disconcerting and harmful to suffer an attitude of indifference. Indifference manifests itself when one person treats another as if it did not exist, ignoring him or limiting the conversation to simple answers.
Below, we will list some of the harmful effects that indifference can cause:
– Causes severe mental tension. If we do not know what the other person is thinking, if we cannot “read” it, our mind will still make the effort to decipher it through the little or no information available. In the medium and long term, this attitude causes anxiety, the search for new responses and stress, which results in mental tension.
– It creates confusion. Indifference breaks an elementary mechanism of human consciousness: the process of action and reaction. Whenever one behaves in a certain way, the other person is then expected to act accordingly. If sometimes the reaction is not what is expected, understanding its total absence is even more difficult. Communication becomes impossible and the attempt to interact becomes forced and exhausting.
– It gives rise to low self-esteem. By not receiving any kind of response from this person, any indication we might draw from it is eliminated. During the stages of personality formation, this can seriously affect our image of ourselves. There is a possibility that that person who receives indifference will come to believe that it is not worth interacting with her, generating a strong insecurity.
How to react to someone who treats you with indifference?
Even if no one is obliged to pay attention to you, we always aspire to establish a relationship of constant interaction with our loved ones: family, friends and partners. If you receive indifference from someone important to you, try to let them know.
Try to explain the situation to him from an objective point of view, even by appealing to your feelings. It will be necessary to describe how this attitude makes you feel, asking him to think about it a bit.
There will be people who simply cannot abandon this indifferent way of treating others. If it is someone you care very much about, you will have to make an effort to seek an interaction. It is important that you do it little by little, gradually, otherwise you run the risk of generating a “rebound effect”, increasing his indifference towards you. It is highly probable that such people underwent such treatment during their childhood or adolescence.
If the above has not brought you results and you feel that you are starting to suffer the deleterious effects of indifference, the healthiest thing to do is to get away from those people. If you feel that the harmful consequences are already taking place within you, it becomes urgent to give up keeping a close relationship with such people, looking for others for whom you are important. Approach groups in which you are listened to and your way of being is valued.
Breaking a relationship of indifference will give you a new view of the world and enhance your development.
