Bleeding Silence
Fragment #33
Read a piece by Vera Hart MD, who is apparently a board certified psychiatrist holding a PhD and writing under a pseudonym to protect clinical work. Lots of unexamined certainty of her Substack essays and Instagram page with two testimonials. I decided to stress test an essay that caught my attention: “The Price of Silence.”
The Biology of Self-Betrayal
Claim: The anterior cingulate cortex of the brain fires off during self-betrayal the same way it does during social rejection, making silence biologically costly.
Counter: I was curious why Vera mixed up moral/social discomfort with chronic neurological damage. The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) of the brain activates during any cognitively demanding decision. This does not prove that silence is uniquely or chronically harmful.
Eisenberger & Lieberman's social pain research into “Why social rejection hurts” showed only transient ACC activation similar to physical pain like the ‘breaking of bones’. A temporary condition capable of healing and recovery. Nothing confirms that silence or strategic discretion forms permanent structural damage.
Research on cognitive reappraisal, that is, changing the way we think about emotionally heavy moments, demonstrates that people who can frame a decision to remain quiet as a protective measure rather than suppressive, show significantly lower cortisol spikes. This suggests that the biological cost is determined by how one interprets silence rather than silence itself.
Repression is Metabolically Expensive
Claim: Suppressing emotions forces the brain to continuously block signals. This produces an ‘alarm burnout’ that gets mistaken for peace.
Counter: Reactively blocking emotions (suppression) and strategically withholding in alignment with values (discretion) are two very different things and James Gross’s process model of emotional regulation in 1998 distinguishes the two clearly. Tempering emotions that are already coursing through the body does carry a metabolic cost, but intentionally choosing not to engage because a situation doesn’t warrant a response actually then reduces the physiological burden. Vera’s claim that “dullness is mistaken for peace” is unfalsifiable.
The Cost of Silence vs. The Cost of Truth
Claim: Silence erodes at the inner self while preserving an outer life. Truth shocks the outer life to preserves inner balance.
Counter: This presents a false binary. Communication is fluid and humans are continuously calibrating silence and expression against timing, audience, environment etc. Those skilled in knowing when and how to express themselves show neither physical nor social costs from restraint or blurting stuff out.
What about whistleblowing?
Claim: Vera’s whistleblowing experience confirms that speaking her truth relieved physical distress.
Counter: This is an n of 1 and Vera demonstrates that her personal account cannot handle too much scrutiny by moving the essay back to broader medical claims. I can only conclude she inserted a personal story to confirm the biology. It doesn’t. I’m not diminishing any sense of relief she may have felt after speaking up, but the essay lacks a counter argument from someone who broke their silence, suffered harm and got zero relief afterwards.
Studies show that whistleblowing outcomes are highly context-dependent. Many who run that gauntlet face lasting retaliation from industry and peers without achieving any tangible benefit whatsoever. This refutes Vera’s claim that speaking up brings inner peace and alignment.
A more balanced conclusion: it depends.
The Closing Movement
Claim: Silence is never neutral; it is always an act of self-betrayal. Truth is the only currency that buys freedom.
Counter: Using the words NEVER, ALWAYS and ONLY is a dicey move. The conclusion hinges on the questionable premise that silence and authenticity are always in tension. A person who chooses silence as a genuine expression of their values would likely see it as being self-aligned, authentic, and enhancing their wellbeing.
Vera redefines all such silences as a betrayal.
There is research on expressive writing and disclosure by James Pennebaker. He illustrates the benefits that come specifically from private narrative processing, not public truth-telling.
Perhaps the nervous system doesn’t need an audience to feel vindicated?
By way of serendipity, Alestra demonstrates that silence does bleed a world of colour. It’s all a matter of interpretation.