by Dawn Hawkins

Created on: August 13, 2010

Gas lighting is subtle psychological warfare that occurs in our everyday lives. Gas lighting isn't always severe, but can have severe consequences when all is said and done. The danger for the person being given the gas lighting treatment could come out on the other end with very severe psychological problems if they don't recognize that it is happening. Gas lighting isn't easily recognized though. When someone gas lights us, we can begin to question ourselves.

The term gas lighting came from a stage play turned movie. The movie is about a man who very intentionally attempts to make his wife believe that she is going insane. He does several different things that make her appear to others that she is losing her mind and she begins to feel that she may be. She eventually finds out what her husband is up to. The point is, he wanted to make her believe that she was going insane. The term has been used ever since in when people use subtle occurrences to make a person think they have lost their minds or need psychological help.

Gas lighting is uncalled for but it happens all the time in domestic abuse cases. It happens in other relationships as well. For example, gas lighting happens in the workplace all the time. The person that is performing the gas light techniques may not realize that is what it is called or that there is even a name for it. The truth is, it is a manipulative way for someone to get their way.

Gas lighting can be anything from being told that you can't do something that you know in your heart you can do, to being made to believe that you are hallucinating. It can be your husband purposely starting an argument minutes before leaving for a party with friends and then pretending as though everything is fine when you get there. People see you upset or angry and think that you are mean and nasty. The truth is, your husband wants those people to believe that you are so that he looks like a saint for staying with you. It also serves to make it more understandable when he decides to break off the relationships, which are probably his intentions anyway.

Within the work environment, gas lighting occurs when co-workers or even your boss may be looking for a way to make you look bad in the eyes of others. It might be difficult to distinguish why gas lighting happens in the workplace. It could be in an attempt to get you to quit your job. It could also be an attempt by a co-worker to "take your place". In any case, it happens all the time. For instance, your

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