📈 The Cost of Silence: Cyberbullying, Systemic Norms, and Mental Health Dialogue

• The tragic passing of American chess grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky has initiated a critical dialogue on relentless online abuse (unfounded cheating accusations) and the societal normalization of silence in the face of harassment. • Systemic Flaw: The article argues that silence often appears as the most rational response across online platforms, universities, and workplaces. This is due to the high personal and professional costs of speaking up, such as reputational damage and social exclusion, which are unevenly distributed. • Cultural Pressures: Environments often reward emotional restraint and "toughening up," while vulnerability or mental health struggles are implicitly judged or treated as an indulgence to be managed privately. • Regional Context: In settings like South Asian universities, pressures are intensified where deference, seniority, and institutional loyalty govern what individuals feel they can express, making quiet endurance a strategy for self-preservation and advancement. • Collective Responsibility: The focus must shift from individual toughness to structural reform. Authorities must alter the perceived cost of seeking support by ensuring that an acknowledgment of difficulty will not result in informal penalties, establishing a clear distinction between legitimate critique and personal degradation.