“Unfair speech, however, does more than harm its victim; it also is self- destructive. Psychiatrist Antonio Wood notes that when we speak ill of someone, we alienate ourselves from that person. The more negative our comments, the more distant we feel from their object. Thus, one who speaks unfairly of many people, comes to distance and alienate himself from many individuals, and, as Doctor Wood notes, alienation is a major cause of depression, one of the most widespread and rapidly growing disorders in America.”
(Rabbi Joseph Telushkin, Words That Hurt, p.5)