I have been looking at gaslighting and narcissists and cults. Whew! From what I have gleaned, many if not all narcissists and cults are gaslighting. That’s not to say all gaslighters are narcissists or in cults.
Most of us may have had at least a small dose of gaslighting at one time in our lives. We may not have known it at the time.
Oh and most gaslighting is not what we’ve seen on TV. No moving brooches or flickering lights. Most of it is subtle. Not that I have watched the 1944 film “Gaslight, I’m not that interested. Reading is less likely to give me nightmares!
Just a few bits from
Gaslighting: Signs You're Suffering From This Secret Form of Emotional Abuse
“One of the most troubling aspects of gaslighting is that everyone is at risk. In fact, it is a method commonly used by cult leaders and dictators. While many of us have the good sense to not join a cult, we can experience gaslighting in our personal relationships without even realizing it.
Unfortunately, gaslighting is also used by abusers and narcissists, and it can be difficult realizing you may have those people in your life. Furthermore, gaslighting happens in a deliberately slow, precise way to ensure that the victim doesn’t realize it’s even happening.
It’s hard to recognize this type of abuse because, in addition to lying, the gaslighter may also be incredibly charming. At first, you may even find yourself feeling guilty that you are second-guessing this individual. The abuser uses tactics to prove your concerns otherwise and quickly you begin ignoring your gut. If it was wrong the first couple of times, it must always be wrong. This confusion is precisely what the abuser wants. As a result, without even realizing it, you are in an abusive relationship.
One of the terrifying parts of gaslighting is the methodical timeline that the abuser uses. The manipulation happens gradually and over time the victim morphs into someone entirely different. The most confident human being can become a shell of a person without being aware of it in the process. The victim’s individual reality diminishes and becomes that of the abuser.
Gaslighting is a technique commonly used by narcissists, sociopaths, and psychopaths. Since these are words we typically hear on television to describe a serial killer, you may not realize this person may be in your day to day life.
Projecting
If the gaslighter is a liar and a cheater, they are now accusing you of being a liar and a cheater. You constantly feel like you need to defend yourself for things you haven’t done.”
This one jumped out at me. Who was cheating? Who was coming from where to kill who? I am sure we can add more. All projecting (transposing) what she was doing, meant to turn attention away from her wrong doing.
Gaslighting is learned not inherited. Much of it happens in childhood when we have no other learning to base right or wrong on. Some of us may not be introduced to it until a romantic or other relationship.
None of this is insanity. Although watching this unfold makes me want to scream “They are insane!”
I had not even known that a lot of what I went through was “learned” gaslighting. The person involved did not know. Doesn’t make it right or hurt less.
I don’t know if any of this helps the various LE profilers.(I’m sure they and many of you got here long before I did.)
It just seriously raised my awareness of the things to look out for in my life and other’s.
It also may give us a closer look at the box in which they live.
(This is just one of many articles I read.) MOO JMO