Gaslighting As a Destructive Survival Mechanism

Key points

Gaslighting is a way to protect a fragile sense of self.

Controlling others' perceptions reduces the need to confront inconsistencies in one's self.

Subjectivity is the currency of mutuality; gaslighters take that away.

Gaslighting has become a popular term; it is not just manipulation but an assault on the right to one's own mind. The wound is not simply confusion and control; it's the forced collapse of subjectivity. People who gaslight do so much harm to others, all in the name of saving themselves. Gaslighters tend to have a very fragile sense of themselves and their place in the world. They work hard to create inner structures but continuously find the external world to be a threat. To prevent their own collapse, they distort the thinking of others to render the percei