Are You A Victim of Gaslighting?
Wikipedia defines gaslighting as “a form of psychological manipulation in which a person or group covertly sow seeds of doubt in a targeted individual or group, making them question their memory, perception or judgment.” Narcissists resort to gaslighting as they crave to be the centre of attention. Also, those with low self-esteem resort to this manipulation so that they may appear superior in comparison to their victim.
What are the different forms of gaslighting you should guard yourself against?
Minimizing Your Feelings: The manipulator makes remarks like, “Don’t be a drama queen!”, “You are being hypersensitive and making a mountain out of a molehill.”, “Big boys don’t cry.” This results in you being ashamed of your feelings and bottling them up. What may seem a trivial occurrence to one person is not so for another.
Minimizing Your Achievements: When an individual feels intimidated by the achievements of someone else, he or she may resort to this method of bringing down the ego of the victim.
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Monica Fernandes is a freelance writer from Mumbai for whom writing is a satisfying hobby. She writes for several magazines including The Teenager Today. She has authored a book for teenagers entitled Towards A Fuller Life published by Better Yourself Books.
