‘Want to know the psychological effects of gaslighting so that you can better protect yourself against it? Here are the proven impacts gaslighters inflict that you must know about.
The psychological effects of gaslighting are many and massive. When victims of bullying and abuse endure gaslighting, the abuser and their flying monkeys only victimize them twice.
In this post, you will learn all the psychological effects of gaslighting on victims so that you’ll have more motivation to protect yourself against it.
After learning about all these ramifications, you will be better able to defend yourself against the evil deeds of gaslighters. Moreover, you will be about to call it out and explain what you’re dealing with when you talk about it.
This post is all about the psychological effects of gaslighting so that you will better be able to explain to others what it does to victims.
Psychological effects of gaslighting
Before we get to the list, let’s touch on the goal of gaslighting and gaslighting tactics. Also, let’s preview how bullying and gaslighting impact your psyche.
Gaslighting is about wresting power and control over your mind. Bullies do this by undermining your reality. They minimize your thoughts, feelings, and experiences.
Moreover, they deflect and shift blame to you. Also, they’re notorious for feigning concern over your (mental) well being.
Understand that this is how they weaponize compassion and goodwill.
Gaslighters are experts at twisting the truth and re-framing conversations. Additionally, they slyly use your reactions to their abuse against you.
Why? To discredit you by making you look as if you have a mental imbalance. You should never tolerate this kind of behavior.
When people inflict bullying and gaslighting on you, they objectify you. In other words, they use you as an inanimate object, a tool for gratification and a rush of power.
It is as if you only exist for other people’s purposes and not you own. Slowly, over time, it does damage to your mental health and if you’re not careful, you may never grow into a fully mature human being.
Consequently, you may begin to see yourself as the projected object the bullies deem you to be. When bullies notoriously gaslight you, they deliberately try to distort your reality.
Why? Because they themselves deny reality. Bullies and abusers deny facts, uncontested truths, and the concreteness of evidence.
Therefore, they try to make reality into an imaginary illusion when, in fact, reality is the opposite.
So, what happens when a bullies try to undermine your perception of reality?
They brainwash you and force you to see things from their point of view. I’ve met many kinds of people in my life. This includes gaslighters- enough of them to know their tactics and recognize them like the back of my hand.
11 Psychological effects of gaslighting
Here is a list of the ways gaslighting impacts victims.
1. Self-doubt
Gaslighting causes you to doubt yourself. Therefore, you doubt what you see, hear, feel and believe.
What gaslighters are best at is trying to make you doubt your sanity or your memory when you call out their bad behavior and evil deeds. Or, when you report them for bullying.
For example, when you tell them to stop bullying you or you report them, your bullies may tell you that “you took it wrong and that they were only trying to help you.” Moreover, they can accuse you of being “mentally imbalanced” or “having a bad memory.”
Also, they may say that you didn’t hear them correctly.
Here’s another example. Your bullies call you an ugly name and you counter them saying, “I’m not a (ugly name). However, they only come back with, “Well, if the shoe fits, wear it!”
Although you know the shoe doesn’t fit, understand that your bullies will do everything in their power to try and shoehorn it.
Therefore, see these derogatory names and remarks for what they’re designed to do. And that is to get you to doubt yourself.
Don’t allow gaslighters to do this to you. Again, see through the lies. You must use their lies to solidify your perception of reality instead of distort it. Instead of allowing them to weaken you, let them only increase your strength and resilience.
In other words, double down!
These are only a few examples. Here are many other gaslighting examples to be aware of, along with a list of counter-statements you can use to shut down gaslighting.
2. Psychological effects of gaslighting: You lose confidence in yourself.
Bullies will fool you into doubting your own goodness and importance.
Gaslighters will also instill doubt in your mind about the people who truly love you. They’ll tell you that your friends and family don’t even love you. Moreover, they’ll claim that the reason they don’t love you is because you’re unlovable.
Moreover, they’ll trick you into doubting your abilities. They do this by making hurtful statements such as, “You can’t do anything right.” Moreover, they may call you cruel names such as, “st*pid,” when you accidentally spill a glass of milk.
Understand that everyone makes mistakes and has accidents. Therefore, never let them break down your confidence in yourself.
Hold on to your confidence. Because without it, you might as well have nothing.
3. You adopt a sense of insecurity.
Enduring gaslighting can make you insecure. If you put up with it long enough, you’ll develop social anxiety and feel nervous around people.
As a result, this kills your social opportunities.
Therefore, keep your outgoing personality no matter how bullies may treat you. They just might be jealous of your friendly nature.
4. Psychological effects of gaslighting: Hyper vigilance
Hyper vigilance is an awareness of potential threats way beyond that which is normal. In other words, when a person is hyper vigilant, they’re overly alert. However, this is a trauma response and it’s not your fault if you suffer from it.
Many victims of bullying and abuse suffer from hyper vigilance after bullies and abusers have traumatized them for so long. The same thing happens when you endure gaslighting for any length of time.
This can only cause exhaustion and other physical ailments.
Again, it’s not your fault. Therefore, don’t blame yourself. Know that there are resources and people you can turn to for help. So, please. Check into those.
5. Distrust in yourself and others.
Victims of gaslighting neither trust themselves to make the right decisions nor do they trust others not to harm them. Therefore, they live a life of constantly looking out for potential threats.
This is understandable. After bullies and abusers have bullied and gaslighted you for so long, you tend to lose trust in everyone, including yourself.
How you begin trusting yourself again is to stop worrying what other people think, face the fear, and begin making your own decisions. Just do it.
Also, how you learn to trust others is to be selective in who you place your trust in. Watch people and learn what threatening body language looks like. Moreover, learn the body language of deception and negativity.
Once you learn all these things, you will be able to better judge who to trust and who not to.
6. Psychological effects of gaslighting: They begin having difficulty with decision making.
This goes back to number five. You have difficulty making decisions because you don’t trust yourself to make the right decisions.
Moreover, you’re afraid to make decisions because you’re always wondering what people will think. You were bullied so badly that people ridiculed everything you did. And when you defended yourself, they gaslighted you for it.
I feel your pain. But, stop that! No one has to live your life but you. Therefore, only you can possibly know what’s best for you. For your own sake, quit letting others dictate your choices because they could care less about what’s for your good.
Yes, I know it’s scary when others have bullied and beaten you down for years. However, you cannot continue to live this way because it’s a miserable existence and life’s too short.
You don’t have to allow this any longer. Take back your autonomy and freedom and just do it! Begin making your own decisions today. And screw them if they don’t like it. You deserve to finally live your life on your terms.
Screw it, just do it!
7. They withdraw from others.
You withdraw from others because you’re afraid that they’ll only bully you. In other words, you’re afraid of history repeating itself. However, what if it doesn’t?
Again, although understandable, the only thing this will do is socially hold you back. Put simpler, it will have a negative impact on your existing relationships and keep you from starting new ones.
Therefore, don’t let the bullies of your past or present hold you back from relationships and friendships that could fulfill you and uplift you.
You deserve to have a social life and you deserve to draw in people who love you and celebrate you. So, put yourself out there and be your best self.
8. Psychological effects of gaslighting: Isolation
Because it seems everyone has bullied and gaslighted you, you feel that the only way for you to be safe is to isolate yourself. Therefore, you must know that this will only make things worse for you.
Why? Because you stand to lose touch with friends and family who could be there to help you. Moreover, you cut yourself off from the many opportunities that come with socializing and keeping contact with friends and family and making new ones.
In short, you become a shut in. Is this how you’d rather live your life?
Know that you deserve to have a life that’s rich and rewarding with people who love and uplift you. You deserve it. You may have been told otherwise but you were lied to. I repeat! You deserve to be surrounded by people who love you and want best for you.
Therefore, never isolate yourself. Instead, get out there and take risks. Meet people. Just watch them and be choosy with who you allow in.
9. False guilt
After bullies and gaslighters have abused you for so long, it’s too easy to self-loathe and feel guilty for things you haven’t done. This only further erodes your self-esteem and peace of mind.
Moreover, if you allow others to unjustly heap false guilt over your head, what do you think they will do next?
Therefore, understand that you aren’t responsible for anyone else’s bad behavior but your own.
In other words, you cannot control the actions of another person. The only behaviors you can control are yours. So, again, never accept accountability for your bullies’ evil ways.
Know that you have the power to refuse to carry any burden that isn’t yours to carry.
10. Psychological effects of gaslighting: Anxiety
It’s no secret that bullying and gaslighting can cause anxiety in victims and survivors. Anxiety is a booger bear because it causes you to worry constantly about something bad that has happened before, occurring again in the future.
In other words, thoughts of negative possibilities begin to occupy your mind all the time. It causes nervousness and uneasiness and renders you unable to relax.
This is no way to live. You deserve better. Therefore, you can talk to a therapist, your best friend or trusted family member. Either way, talk to someone you trust.
However, don’t let the anxiety go on for so long that it turns into a disorder.
11. Physical ailments, such as stomach issues and headaches
Psychological trauma has ways of causing illness in the body as well. This is why you must take steps to heal your mind from the effects of gaslighting and bullying.
Moreover, make sure you eat right, exercise and get plenty of rest. Take care of your body like you would your possessions. Because you health is your wealth.
This post is all about the psychological effects of gaslighting, how it impacts you, and how you can overcome it.
Related posts you’ll enjoy:
1. Signs of Gaslighting: The 7 Signs You Must Know
2. Gaslighting at Work: 5 Surefire Indicators to Watch Out For
3. Gaslighting Examples: 11 Notable Tactics Gaslighters Use
4. Gaslighting Phrases: 7 Most Common Statements to Be Aware of
5. Phrases to Shut Down a Gaslighter: 9 Powerful Statements to Use
