Gaslighting is a form of abuse that usually lasts over a long period of time to make the victim feel they are losing their sanity and questioning their memory and starting to doubt conversations and events that happened.
Some examples are cancelling appointments and saying they were never booked, moving things or binning them and stating they were never there, denying conversations/things that happened. The abuser telling friends and family they are worried about your behaviour and then when you inevitably start to feel paranoid they think it’s mental illness, lying about the victims alcohol intake, implying they are neglecting themselves or children if they have then.
This is an effective way to make someone doubt themselves or feel they need looking after so the abuser steps in and becomes relied on so it’s even easier to be controlling, it can utterly destroy some people.
It’s frustrating when the term is used for a single disagreement or argument but lots of people completely misunderstand the true meaning, if it’s happened to you it minimises the trauma and people don’t recognise the true harm it causes.
It’s just another buzzword like narcissist, “being a bit OCD” anxiety etc… people see the terms on social media used incorrectly and think it applies to their circumstances and use the terms incorrectly.
I wish this trend of everyone being an armchair psychiatrist and wanting to diagnose someone or be diagnosed would stop. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to be taken seriously when you need genuine mental health support and services are being abused.
I don’t blame anyone because you can’t question everything you read online or doubt people who state they have these conditions, I think it’s mostly social media to blame and that’s not going away. It is nice when people educate themselves properly though and if they think they might have a mental illness take steps to get a diagnosis and don’t diagnose other people unless they are qualified to!