

For example, they may portray whistleblowers who report problems as irrational or incompetent, or deceive employees about their rights. Institutional gaslighting occurs within a company, organization, or institution, such as a hospital. Political gaslighting occurs when a political group or figure lies or manipulates information to control people, according to an article in the Buffalo Law Review.įor example, the person or political party may downplay things their administration has done, discredit their opponents, imply that critics are mentally unstable, or use controversy to deflect attention away from their mistakes. For example, a person or institution may say that an activist campaigning for change is irrational or “crazy.” Political gaslighting Racial gaslightingĪccording to an article in Politics, Group, and Identities, racial gaslighting is when people apply gaslighting techniques to an entire racial or ethnic group in order to discredit them. They may tell the person their symptoms are “in their head” or label them a hypochondriac.
#Gaslight properties professional
Medical gaslightingĪccording to the CPTSD Foundation, medical gaslighting is when a medical professional dismisses a person’s health concerns as being the product of their imagination. For example, when a child cries, they may say they are “too sensitive” to shame them and make them stop. Child-parent relationshipsĪbusive parents or caregivers may gaslight children to undermine them. For example, they might tell someone they are irrational until the person starts to think it must be true. In relationships, an abusive person may use gaslighting to isolate their partner, undermine their confidence, and make them easier to control. Gaslighting can occur in any type of interaction, but it is especially common in: Intimate relationships

For example, they may say that no one will believe a woman if she reports abuse. Stereotyping: An article in the American Sociological Review says that a person may intentionally use negative stereotypes about someone’s gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality, nationality, or age to gaslight them.For example, they might say, “That is just nonsense you read on the internet. Diverting: With this technique, a person changes the focus of a discussion by questioning the other person’s credibility.They may do this by pretending to forget what happened, saying they did not do it, or blaming their behavior on someone else. Denial: Denial involves a person refusing to take responsibility for their actions.They may accuse them of being “too sensitive” or overreacting in response to valid and reasonable concerns. Trivializing: This occurs when a person belittles or disregards how someone else feels.For example, they might say, “Now you are just confusing me,” or “I do not know what you are talking about.” Withholding: This involves someone pretending they do not understand the conversation, or refusing to listen, to make a person doubt themselves.They may say things such as, “Are you sure about that? You have a bad memory,” or “I think you are forgetting what really happened.” Countering: This is when someone questions a person’s memory.Then-candidate Trump’s campaign and subsequent administration has been accused of “gaslighting America” for, among other things, labeling verifiable facts as “fake news.According to the National Domestic Violence Hotline, gaslighting can happen in a variety of ways. While there was some occasional political use in the 1990s, the term rose to particular prominence decades later during the 2016 U.S. Evidence for this metaphorical extension emerges in the 1950–60s. He convinces her that she’s imagining this, trying to drive her insane.Īs a result of the film’s success, gaslighting became a common way of describing emotional abuse or manipulation that causes one to question their sanity. Part of his efforts include toying with their gas-powered lights so they flicker. In the film, the husband makes his wife go crazy and steal valuable jewels her family has hidden away. The story features a conniving and murderous husband who tries to conceal his true identity from his wife. It was eventually adapted into a film, compounded into a single word as Gaslight, in 1944. The term gaslighting originates from a 1938 play called Gas Light by Patrick Hamilton.
