Passive Aggression

Passive Aggression is something I struggled with all of my life. Instead of openly expressing my anger, I tend to do it in subtle ways that are not obvious. Passive aggression is a patter of indirectly expressing negative emotions through subtle acts of resistance, defiance, or neglect.

It’s always used to avoid criticism, rejection, confrontation. It’s not always obvious to spot, but with enough experience, you can tell when somebody has a attitude. It is nearly Impossible to hide an attitude. If you don’t overtly show it, it will come out in your body language, sarcasm, or even silent treatment.

The silent treatment is the one I used most. If I get into a disagreement with someone and I don’t like where the conversation is going, I will shut down very quick. I don’t do it to be mean and hateful, I’ve never been a confrontational person. I always felt it was better to hold my anger than to express how I really feel. But that makes the situation worse because the other person doesn’t know what you are thinking.

Resistance is another form of passive aggression. Denying that you are angry even though there are clear signs of resentment. Complaining without any form of action. You’re upset about a certain situation but you don’t do anything to address it. The one I struggle with most is procrastinating. I constantly put off tasks that should be doing.

Honestly, I think people who are passive aggressive are not evil people, they just have a hard time communicating how they feel. They feel powerless in a certain situation, so they do things that are not easily noticeable a way of getting their point across and not being detected. I’ve struggled with it most of my life and a lot of times it has made situations worse than I intended it to be. It is something I have to work on being able to communicate my anger without being in a disrespectful manner.

ADDENDUM: 6/27/25

THIS POST WAS WRITTEN BY ALFRED ALLEN JR.