I've been treated to it with the intent of hurt and it sure does.

To this day I often run the television when the house is too quiet, whether I am alone or not, just to have voices in the house. Maybe even more so in a too-quiet house full of people, even if all the other people are sleeping contentedly.

I live completely alone now and it is more comfortable for me to be alone when I'm alone than to be alone surrounded by people.

At times I like silent because noisy can be too much. BUT silent as a punishment is a noo, noo. But turning off the TV etc is a blessing to me

My in-laws were simply quiet people. Their noisiest days were still quiet but I never heard a thunderous silence in their presence. During their final years, their house verily defined, "Quiet as a tomb." Footsteps on carpet were loud enough to trigger the guilt complex nurtured by my birth family's use of The Silent Treatment.

Coupled with the psycho-ticks of my unreliable hearing, my shifts on the hospice care rotation required frequent breaks to step outside and make some noise, whether to assure myself that my birth family was still 1800 miles away or that no, I had not, as I have long feared, finally gone stone cold deaf.

Indoor silence scares me. . . I love outdoor silence, but it is not really silent. Nature has a rich, musical repertoire which is forever on the airwaves.

I remember being so scared in the house as a kid, especially when it was quiet, I think. I'd get outside so I could see anybody coming. I spent a lot of nights outside sleeping with the horse.

I've lived alone for 10 years now, arfie, and I make sure to program the tv to be on overnight as I sleep. Sometimes what I choose programs my dreams in addition to giving me some background noise to sleep to so I won't be kept awake by thunderous silence.