Protocol 12: Control of Time, Deliberate Delay, and Psychological Exhaustion as Institutional Harm

One of the most pervasive and least acknowledged forms of harm within organizations that host artists at risk is the weaponization of time. Unlike overt abuse, demonization, or humiliation, this form of harm operates quietly, bureaucratically, and often without visible confrontation. Yet its psychological impact is profound.

This protocol recognizes deliberate delay, procedural suspension, and chronic uncertainty as forms of psychological harm and institutional violence.

I. The Nature of Temporal Control as Power

When an organization avoids clear decisions, postpones resolution, or keeps an artist’s situation indefinitely “under review,” it transforms time into an instrument of domination. Instead of saying “no,” the institution says “later,” “we are still assessing,” “this is complex,” or “we need more time,” without providing a defined process, timeline, or endpoint.

This practice is not neutral.
It places the artist in a state of permanent anticipation, where the nervous system remains activated, vigilance increases, and psychological resources are slowly depleted.

In organizational psychology, this condition is known as chronic uncertainty stress.
Neuroscience demonstrates that prolonged uncertainty produces sustained cortisol elevation, impaired executive functioning, emotional exhaustion, and diminished creative capacity.

An artist can survive confrontation.
They cannot indefinitely survive suspension.

II. Common Forms of Temporal Harm

Temporal harm manifests through, but is not limited to:

• prolonged non-response to critical communications,
• open-ended “investigations” without deadlines,
• repeated postponement of decisions affecting safety, housing, visibility, or status,
• vague assurances without dates or accountability,
• unresolved conflicts intentionally kept “pending,”
• and procedural complexity used to avoid resolution.

In such cases, the artist is not harmed by a decision, but by the absence of one.

III. Psychological Impact

Deliberate delay and unresolved uncertainty produce:

• cognitive fatigue and decision paralysis,
• sleep disruption and emotional dysregulation,
• loss of trust in self-perception,
• erosion of motivation and creative function,
• internalization of blame (“maybe I am the problem”),
• and, in many cases, symptoms consistent with complex trauma.

This harm is cumulative and invisible, which makes it particularly dangerous.

IV. Institutional Responsibility

Organizations must recognize that indefinite delay is not administrative caution. It is a form of harm.

An institution that repeatedly postpones resolution while maintaining power over an artist’s security, livelihood, or representation is not protecting neutrality—it is exercising control.

Therefore, organizations have a duty to:

• provide clear procedural timelines,
• communicate decisively and transparently,
• define stages of review with fixed durations,
• and ensure that no artist remains indefinitely suspended in uncertainty.

V. Artist Rights Under This Protocol

An artist at risk has the right to:

• timely decisions affecting their safety, dignity, and status,
• clear explanations for any delay,
• predictable processes with defined endpoints,
• and freedom from psychological exhaustion caused by institutional indecision.

Delay must never be used as a disciplinary tactic, reputational buffer, or method of quiet removal.

VI. Prohibited Practices

Under this protocol, the following are considered forms of institutional harm:

• repeated postponement without justification,
• unresolved allegations left intentionally open,
• indefinite “evaluation” or “monitoring,”
• silence in response to urgent communications,
• and the use of time pressure to force compliance or resignation.

VII. Final Principle

An organization that cannot decide cannot protect.
An organization that delays indefinitely inflicts harm.
When time becomes a tool of power, it becomes violence.

Protection requires clarity, timeliness, and accountability.
Justice delayed is not neutrality.
It is injury.