If Your Partner Does These 5 Sneaky Things, They’re Gaslighting You
What is gaslighting?
Gaslighting is a pattern of emotionally abusive behavior that is all about controlling and isolating another person.
As they shake your trust in your thoughts, feelings, perceptions, and experiences, they gain more power over you – making it harder to escape their grasp.
Here are nine super subtle signs to watch out for, and what to do if you know, deep down, the lights have been dimming.
1. You catch your partner in strange little lies
Gas lighters will lie constantly, even about things where they really have no incentive or reason to lie.
Furthermore, they will often deny the truth, no matter how obvious it may be. The goal is to plant doubt in you because they are so sure that the lie is true.
2. They question your memory
Gaslighters will tell you that what you saw, heard, or experienced didn’t happen – or, at the very least, that you remembered part of it incorrectly.
They may minimize your memory of an event with phrases like, “it didn’t happen that way” or “you’re not getting enough sleep lately – that’s not what I said.”
Then they ‘correct’ your story, even if your version was 100% accurate.
3. Their ‘jokes’ are not funny
Gas lighters will strike you, but they use it as a joke or say they are ‘joking’, even if they are aiming a dagger at your heart.
A gas lighter will strike at the base of who you are and what you love most about yourself, from your identity as a mother or sister to your career and talents.
By doing this, they diminish your confidence and sense of self.
4. You keep asking yourself if you are “too sensitive.”
Piss yourself off with a gas lighter, and they minimize your feelings or even deny that what they did was hurtful in the first place.
As a result, you may start to question your own emotions.
‘Stop being so sensitive!’ or ‘I didn’t know you were so sensitive’ are common refrains, even if your reactions are legitimate and reasonable.
5. But… they always make you feel so much better
Dating a gas lighter can turn into an endless cycle of ups and downs, with your hand on the control switch. Prime example: they will tear it down only to build it up a moment later.
Source:funnystation.net
