![]() ![]() Maybe you were friends with someone who was a little more popular than you. It doesn’t mean your mom was consciously trying to control your every decision, but the result is the same. Over time, you might question your decisions or feel like you can’t make them at all without her approval or you might only choose things you know she would approve of. It’s not because she was evil but because she was scared for you and wanted you to make all the right decisions to keep you safe. Maybe you had a mom who was critical and judgmental. ![]() If someone challenged him, he might have become enraged and withheld love or even physical support. If you disagreed, there was something wrong with you. It’s wrong or it’s right, with no room for discussion. For example, they might have had a dad who was very black and white about everything. It likely traces back to how they were parented. If someone is gaslighting you, it’s a reflection of their own mental health. It could be a coworker, your boss, a friend or your dad.īelieve it or not, the person gaslighting you often doesn’t know what they’re doing and often act without any kind of malicious intent. Today I’m going to be using lots of examples of gaslighting in romantic relationships, but it can happen in any relationship where one person is so important to you that you don’t want to lose the relationship. The gaslighter’s power could be financial, positional (like a boss) or they could be more educated than you or claim to have more street smarts. So then you really don’t want to leave for fear of being a pathetic screw up who won’t be able to make it on your own and who definitely won’t be able to find anyone else to love you, for example, or get another job. This creates its own cycle where, over time, you start to question your perceptions and start thinking they’re always right. ![]() At its base, it’s an imbalanced power dynamic where the gaslighter somehow has enough power that the person being manipulated is scared to lose the relationship so allows the abuse to continue. Gaslighting is a form of emotional abuse and manipulation. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |