The Communication Barrier

Thousands of years ago communication was adopted as the primary source of expression. Even back then when there were no words to be used, pictures and drawings were depicted to share thoughts. In today's fast paced society communicating one's thoughts and feelings is a vital part of building relationships. When people are unable to express their opinion or feeling on a certain subject it causes a communication failure which leads to the destruction of many relationships.

The lack of communication between parents and children these days has resulted in many problems. Learning to communicate with other people is a lesson that is taught at a young age in the home. The family unit is the starting brick where a child learns the basis for open communication. Parents are the main example from which children learn, if the parents are able to talk openly with their children and have the children respond honestly then the parents have done their part of teaching open communication. There are situations where parents feel that they need to hide their feelings from the children in order to protect them. Children pick up on the feelings and become confused by the messages the parents are sending and it may result with the children feeling responsible. Also when parents hide their feelings and do not talk about them with the other family members it makes the children feel uncomfortable about talking about their feelings. Eventually this leads to a communication barrier within the family. When one parent becomes angry with the spouse the children also tend to express the feeling through anger, violence or temper tantrums. Families are unable to stay together as a close family unit because of the anger being passed around. When there is a problem it should be

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talked about as a unit and resolved together to ensure that everybody has a turn to express their feelings in order to prevent an unnecessary argument.

Marriage is a target example of where communication breakdowns are found. When two people fall in love their emotional bond allows them to share their true feelings. If one partner starts repressing their feelings and anger, the other person seems to pick up on their anger and they eventually become irritated and angry without knowing why. A pattern has develop where women who seem logical and strong suddenly become hysterical. This may be due to their husband who is calm and even tempered. He may never express his anger and the woman feels his anger and she takes it out for him. Then the woman may feel inferior because the man will point out how she always tends to overreact. When one partner feels that they are unable to express their true feelings they become a bomb ready to go off at any time. The inability to express emotions in a love relationship often leads to the destruction of the couple.

The world of business relies on communication as its main wheel, it makes everything go around. If co-workers that are working together on a project are not able to communicate it becomes a problem for the company because nothing will be accomplished. Since most people are masters at disguising their true feelings, many people may not contribute what they really feel instead they will say what they think the boss wants to hear. Even if the person may have a better idea they may keep it inside since the business world is so competitive and they cannot risk losing their job. When people in the workplace do not fully express all the levels of their feelings they may get stuck on one level, which is usually the level where they are lying for the sake of their

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job. Also people who find that talking to their boss is impossible, may become so full of anger and frustration that they will take it home with them and take it out on their family. When this happens the family gets angry and it is an ongoing cycle of anger due to a lack of communication.

Many misunderstandings arise because people do not clearly express they ideas or feelings. People are so good at hiding their feelings that they begin to believe their opinion does not matter and that may lead to all types of mental problems. Lack of communication is a huge problem that will probably never become resolved but if people try to speak their mind in the right measure then the communication barrier that is continuously being built between people may start to disappear.