Luckily, Kelley emphasizes that recovery from gaslighting is absolutely possible. “Practicing self-compassion and patience is essential, as the healing process can take time,” she notes. The tactics used by a gaslighter are meant to deconstruct the victim's sense of self, and it can take time to rebuild and repair.
Seek Help if the Gaslighting Continues
"Gaslighters will erode your self-esteem; therapy can be very helpful in rebuilding it and also learning the warning signs of gaslighters in the future," said Sarkis. When it occurs in a romantic relationship, couples therapy can work, too.
Gaslighting can significantly impact divorce proceedings, particularly when it comes to child custody battles or property division. The manipulation and distortion of facts can complicate legal processes, making it essential for victims to document instances of gaslighting and seek legal advice to protect their rights.
Gaslighting is a slow process that can take time to recognize and heal from, but treatment helps. Whether the victim recognizes it earlier or only gets help after a mental health crisis, the right treatment can bolster self-esteem, aid recovery from mental health symptoms, and restore normal function.
The long-term effects of gaslighting may include anxiety, depression, trauma, and low self-esteem. Gaslighting often appears in abusive relationships but also takes place in other contexts. People from marginalized groups are especially vulnerable.
The gaslighter enjoys emotionally, physically, and financially controlling their victims. The relationship may start well the manipulative person may praise his or her victim and establishes trust quickly by confiding in their victim immediately.
Certain mental health conditions such as narcissistic personality disorder and antisocial personality disorder lend themselves to gaslighting as those illnesses give people a distorted view of themselves and others and a propensity toward manipulating others for their own ends by any means necessary, as well as never ...
While some gaslighters are very aware that they are putting their behavior on someone else to get what they want, some who are projecting are not aware that they are doing it. In either case, projection is an unhealthy behavior and should not be tolerated. Some gaslighters unconsciously project out of guilt or shame.
Gaslighting may lead a person to develop mental health concerns. The constant self-doubt and confusion can contribute to anxiety. A person's hopelessness and low self-esteem may lead to depression. Posttraumatic stress and codependency are also common developments.
Some of the most common reasons people gaslight are:
They use gaslighting to stop conflict. They use it to deflect their personal responsibility. They want to keep a people pleaser partner trying to please. They use it to gain power and control.
Gaslighters spin their negative, harmful and destructive words and actions in their favor, deflecting blame for their abusive deeds, and pointing the finger at you. One of the most harmful forms of gaslighting is when it occurs in a marriage relationship– it is a hallmark of domestic abuse.
Typically, gaslighters do not want to break up. "In most cases, they want to stay in the relationship and keep it on their terms," says mental health counselor Rebecca Weiler.
They need attention—and if they aren't getting it from a new relationship, they will come back for you. Keep up no contact. Things will never get better with a gaslighter—only worse.
The goal of a gaslighter is to make a person doubt themself by feeding them lies and using their own position to cause mental health harm. The term gaslighting, or gaslighter, comes from a play from the late 1930s, according to Britannica.
The personality of a gaslighter commonly involves a need to have control over others, a feeling of superiority, and a disregard for others and their feelings. Individuals with narcissistic personality disorder and antisocial personality disorder often use gaslighting tactics.
Some gaslighters are aware of their behavior, and they may even work to improve their gaslighting skills. They might enjoy the sense of superiority they feel from making others doubt their sanity and correctness. Others who gaslight might not be aware that they're doing it.
Gaslighting friends enjoy conflict and often rile people against one another. Often, this motive comes from a place of profound jealousy. This friend may instigate rumors just to see how people respond. They often hope that others will be “grateful” for their truth.
The antidote to gaslighting is greater emotional awareness and self-regulation — both the knowledge and the practice.
Highly sensitive people and empaths are more susceptible to gaslighting because they do not trust themselves and their intuitions. They doubt their own perspective even when they sense that something is wrong.
The term “gaslighting” originates in a British play-turned film from the 1930s. The play was called “Gas Light” and the plot is about a husband who mentally and emotionally manipulates his wife into believing she is crazy by changing the intensity of the gas lamps within their home.