What is gaslighting? Here are some details about this.
GASLIGHTING – The things you should about a form of emotional abuse and manipulation called gaslighting to further understand this.
NBC News said that gaslighting is a term used by psychologists to “a specific type of manipulation where the manipulator is trying to get someone else (or a group of people) to question their own reality, memory or perceptions. And it’s always a serious problem.”
This kind of manipulation is emotional abuse that not only invalidates the feeling of one person but also makes them question their own reality. The abuser misleads the victim and creates false narratives to divert the victim’s attention to questioning their reality and eventually make them second-guess themselves.
Primarily, this happens in a romantic but abusive relationship. But it also happens to other types of relationships. One can use this technique to manipulate friends, family members, or even co-workers says Ahern, K. in Institutional betrayal and gaslighting: Why whistle-blowers are so traumatized.
This is how it works:
- The person lies to you – he or she can blatantly lie to your face and he or she can distort the truth and be very convincing by using these common lines:
“You’re making things up.”
“That never happened.”
“You’re crazy.”
- They have this tendency to act as if they care for you but really, they are spreading false stories about you to other people. And this is how they can easily get the sympathy of others despite the fact that it was you who is the victim all along.
- They find ways to dodge the questions or statements of their deception. Instead of directly addressing the issue, they respond with a question that quickly diverts everything. And such will make you question yourself if the matter should be attended to or not anymore because of their response.
- “Calm down,” “You’re overreacting,” or “Why are you so sensitive?” are statements from them indicating their non-acknowledgment of your thoughts and feelings.
- They always tend to shift the blame to the victim and they are notorious for denying the mistakes they did.
- They are also good at changing a story. They can easily change the narrative by making up stories that are in their favor.
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