Neglect compounds even when the thing being neglected remains silent.

Silence is not a status report. A thing can be deteriorating steadily while giving no indication at all, because most decline has no way of announcing itself until it reaches a threshold. Taking quiet as reassurance is how people end up surprised by something that had been developing for years.

Check the things that never complain, since those are the ones you have no information about. A deliberate look is the only way to hear from something that has no voice.