The wisdom of utilizing "The Silent Treatment"

This could explain why my weekend has been so quiet:

The silent treatment is almost universally acknowledged as negative, thanks to its damaging social and psychological outcomes. A new study, however, finds a notable exception when it comes to complete jackasses.

Turns out, when somebody is so obnoxious that it’s exhausting just to talk to them, cutting conversational ties is actually a positive mental health strategy – one that allows people to save their cognitive capital for more fruitful activities. Say, watching paint dry.

“It’s depleting to force yourself to have difficult conversations when all you want to do is ignore the person,” said lead author Kristin Sommer, associate professor of psychology at Baruch College, City University of New York. “Ostracism can serve the regulatory goal of allowing people to conserve resources.”