Gaslighting – Word of the Year 2022

Merriam-Webster, an American oldest dictionary publisher has chosen “Gaslighting” as its word of the year.

Merriam Webster dictionary defines Gaslighting as “psychological manipulation of a person usually over an extended period of time, that causes the victims to question the validity of their own thoughts, perception of reality and memories and typically leads to confusion, loss of confidence and self esteem, uncertainty of one’s emotional and mental stability and finally leads to dependence on the perpetrator”.

Gaslighting can also be defined as a person who who puts a false narrative to another group or person, thereby leading to doubt their perception and become misled, disoriented and distressed. Most of the time, this is for the Gaslighter’s own benefit.

In 2022, “Gaslighting” word has been searched 1740 times.

Gaslighting involves imbalance of power between the abuser and the person they are gaslighting.

Abusers often exploit stereotype or vulnerability related to gender, sexuality, race, class or nationality etc.

The word “Gaslighting” comes from the title of the 1938 Patrick Hamilton’s play “Gas Light” and the movie based on the play in which a man attempting to make his wife believe that she is going insane.

Gaslighting is an abusive practice that causes someone to disrupt themselves or to believe that they have a mental illness The long term effect of Gaslighting may include anxiety, trauma, depression and low self esteem.

Gaslighted person need to learn that they don’t need other to question their reality and they need to gain self esteem and confidence in defining their own reality