By: Ayyan Shaikh
Gaslighting is a form of psychological manipulation when a person makes a victim question their reality. It is a form of psychological manipulation usually used by abusers(mental or physical) to make their victims question their own perception or judgment.
There are many warning signs of gaslighting:
They deny they ever said something and tell blatant lies despite you having solid proof: The confidence with which they deny the reality makes you question your own reality and thus you start accepting theirs instead.
They wear you down slowly: the whole process is done so slowly that even the brightest and most aware people cannot spot the signs of gaslighting.
The use things dear to you: Using things/people you love against you or so that you would forgive them is their main strategy.
They add positive reinforcement to confuse you: The person usually calling you worthless will start praising you or doing nice things out of nowhere so you would think that they aren’t a bad person.
They project: Gaslighters often project their own shortcomings onto you so that you’re stuck defending yourself and questioning them on their actions is the last thing on your mind.
They isolate you: They spin their lies to have more people on their sides and then talk about how crazy you are in front of them which makes you feel like you have no one and that’s exactly what benefits them.
They don’t let you trust other people: By telling you how everyone else is a liar, they make sure you only trust and rely on them so that you have no means of help.
These are a few of the many signs of gaslighting. The moment you feel like you are seeing them in a person close to you, immediately tell someone or involve someone on your side into the matter because you might delude yourself into thinking that the other person is anything but gaslighting you, however, a third and unbiased eye will spot the behavior more easily.
(Image from here.)
Comments