Silence is a tool, not a place to live. Use it to think, then come back and talk.

A pause can be the most useful thing in a conversation, because it stops you answering before you know what you think. Left running too long, it becomes a wall, and the other person fills the gap with their worst guess. Thinking time is supposed to end in speech; otherwise it is just withdrawal. The whole difference is whether you come back.

If you need to go quiet in the middle of something hard, say so and give it a time. I need to think, can we talk tonight. Then return when you said you would, even with a half-formed answer.