Gaslighting used to be a more colorful, sinister description of the act of manipulation. To be gaslit involved careful reorganization or reassessment of events, often traumatic. Now it’s a synonym for lying. Reminds me of tumblr diminishing “trigger warnings”
Don’t get me started. I’ve got trauma from an ex’s careful manipulation that happened over four and a half years. Multiple times during when I truly thought I was losing my mind.
It took years afterwards for me to feel I could have any baseline trust in my own memory and my own interpretations of other people, because how in the hell could I have been so wrong about the ex? How could I have been so blind to so much manipulation, that with the right puzzle pieces in place and the benefit of hindsight is now so obvious?
It’s been more than a decade, and still when I’m challenged on my recollection of events, I tend to default to not trust myself.
I sincerely don’t want anyone to know the meaning of gaslighting first hand like I do. At the same time, I wish people would stop overusing strong specific words when describing more “regular” banal bad stuff.
I understand your frustration. Remember that people do it with everything. Exaggerating is part of storytelling for many people, and depending on the people and the culture, a small lie or exaggeration in service of a good story isn’t really considered a bad thing.
But I agree, I wish people wouldn’t do it with clinically significant terms.
Have you ever listened to the podcast “Something Was Wrong”? The first season is a very well crafted retelling a one person’s experience with gaslighting
Evil used to be a more colorful, sinister description of malicious acts. Now it’s a synonym for bad jokes. Reminds me of lemmy diminishing “gaslighting”
Gaslighting used to be a more colorful, sinister description of the act of manipulation. To be gaslit involved careful reorganization or reassessment of events, often traumatic. Now it’s a synonym for lying. Reminds me of tumblr diminishing “trigger warnings”
Don’t get me started. I’ve got trauma from an ex’s careful manipulation that happened over four and a half years. Multiple times during when I truly thought I was losing my mind.
It took years afterwards for me to feel I could have any baseline trust in my own memory and my own interpretations of other people, because how in the hell could I have been so wrong about the ex? How could I have been so blind to so much manipulation, that with the right puzzle pieces in place and the benefit of hindsight is now so obvious?
It’s been more than a decade, and still when I’m challenged on my recollection of events, I tend to default to not trust myself.
I sincerely don’t want anyone to know the meaning of gaslighting first hand like I do. At the same time, I wish people would stop overusing strong specific words when describing more “regular” banal bad stuff.
I understand your frustration. Remember that people do it with everything. Exaggerating is part of storytelling for many people, and depending on the people and the culture, a small lie or exaggeration in service of a good story isn’t really considered a bad thing.
But I agree, I wish people wouldn’t do it with clinically significant terms.
It isn’t only part of storytelling but literally one of the strongest forces of language change.
Have you ever listened to the podcast “Something Was Wrong”? The first season is a very well crafted retelling a one person’s experience with gaslighting
Is that true or are you gaslighting us?
You’re evil lol
Evil used to be a more colorful, sinister description of malicious acts. Now it’s a synonym for bad jokes. Reminds me of lemmy diminishing “gaslighting”
I still maintain that this is the only correct use of the term.