"Gaslighting"
Do you know the term? I didn't know it when it happened to me--several times.
A doctor, a teacher, a series of supervisors, a pastor... the list can go on and on, because it is very common, even in, of all places--politics.
It happens when one person tries to convince another to second-guess their instincts and doubt their perception that something is real.
Medical gaslighting happens when health-care professionals downplay or blow off symptoms you know you're feeling and instead try to convince you they're caused by something else—or even that you're imagining them.
It makes you question reality, your perception of the world. Are you disconnected somehow—or being disrespected?
There is a more familiar term: Spiritual Abuse.
A lot of the time it is Gaslighting from an authority figure you assume has education, knowledge and experience greater than you do.
This is the theme is Gaslight Perpetrators. So here it is again:
A lot of the time it is Gaslighting from an authority figure you assume has education, knowledge and experience greater than you do.
For example lets say a person has a habit of always leaving the hall light on at night. the manipulative person systematically turns that light off, and when the target says something about it, the person informs them that they never turned it on, so they must be remembering it wrong. Keep doing things like that until the person begins to doubt their own mental faculties.
Deceptively and persuasively convincing someone of a falsehood has similarities, but is not exactly the same thing. Gaslighting specifically is designed to make the other person think he is losing his mind.
Your "gut instinct" is usually right, but these people also tend to be good at manipulating you to ignore your gut.
Maybe you've now woken up?
Maybe you are still wounded and feel damaged?
Maybe you've recovered and broken away from the abuse?
Maybe you witnessed it or helped someone out of a bad situation?
Wherever you're at, share some of your story below.
(Notes:
1. I will delete insensitive and inappropriate posts/responses
2. Don't use the real name of a person who hurt you
3. No Theological debates on this one)
