GASLIGHTING: RECOGNITION AND PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPACT

Abstract

Gaslighting is a pervasive form of psychological manipulation that systematically distorts an individual’s perception of reality, leading to self-doubt, confusion, and emotional disorientation. This chapter, Gaslighting: Recognition and Psychological Impact, examines the ways in which gaslighting occurs in familial, institutional, and interpersonal contexts as well as its symptoms and significant psychological effects. It looks at how the term came to be used historically and how it developed into a framework for comprehending emotional abuse and coercive control. Trust, reliance, and attachment dynamics are among the cognitive and emotional processes that render people vulnerable to gaslighting, and the chapter outlines these processes via an interdisciplinary lens that combines psychology, sociology, and trauma studies. It goes on to examine the language and behavioural strategies used by gaslighters, including projection, trivialization, and denial, to undermine victims' faith in their own recollections and perceptions. The psychological effectswhich include identity fragmentation, anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorderas well as the difficulties victims encounter in identifying and overcoming such abuse are covered in detail. The chapter concludes by outlining awareness-raising, intervention, and prevention techniques, stressing the value of empowerment and validation in reestablishing self-reliance and autonomy.