Gaslighting Doesn’t Always Look Like What You Think It Does
Published By admin
I recently met up with one of my friends for coffee and a good chat session. When I sat down at the table, she pointed at her cup and exclaimed, “The barista totally gaslit me. Do you see how they spelled my name?” I had to admit, the spelling was pretty off, but it also reminded me of how mainstream the term “gaslighting” has become. So mainstream, in fact, that Merriam-Webster made it its Word of the Year in 2022.
This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Language is empowering. As a therapist, I’ve seen the profound impact that having words for a confusing experience can have on someone. But when a word gets used for everything from coffee shop mishaps to genuinely destabilizing relationship experiences, it can start to water down something that deserves more precision.
Real gaslighting in a relationship isn’t a mispronounced name or a forgotten appointment. It’s an extreme form of emotional manipulation designed to leave you questioning whether what you experienced happened and whether you are the problem for bringing it up. And the version most people picture when they hear the word? It’s usually not the version that’s hardest to recognize or the most damaging.
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Content retrieved from: https://theeverymom.com/gaslighting-in-a-relationship/.
