In her article in the Scientific American, Sweet (2022) classified gaslighting as type of psychological abuse that can leave its victims unfairly doubting their versions of reality. It devaluates their experiences and blames them for their "mistakes." The term came from a 1930s play and then 1944 movie with Ingrid Bergman. In the movie, the husband changes the intensity of the gas-powered lights in the house and claims his wife is imaging the changes, which makes her believe she is crazy. The term has become even more a part of popular culture with the #MeToo movement. It is widely used by political and cultural writers and by psychologists.
Sweet (2022) reported that gaslighting has recently become a topic studied systematically by sociologists, including herself. The results have found that gaslighting takes root in unequal social contexts and is fed by the vulnerabilities and the stereotypes of its victims, often women and minorities. Sweet interviewed 122 people over 6 months and analyzed the patterns. She found that intersections of age, race, gender, and sexuality all matter for the ways that people's realities are discounted. She parsed out 4 contexts in which gaslighting commonly occurs: domestic violence, intimate partnerships not otherwise abusive, parents and other family members, and institutions, usually at work. About one third of the interviewees named their parents as their primary gaslighters.
All contexts require power imbalances in which the gaslighters control resources, narratives, and cultural dominance. Gaslighting is especially powerful when its victims have minimal social support and are prone to shame, which makes them very likely to take blame. Sweet (2022) concluded," Coming to doubt oneself as a reliable interpreter of the world does significant damage. But context matters. If social networks and community support are protective, we can rely on one another to prevent or reverse the worst effects of gaslighting (p. 61)."
I may also add that psychotherapy can be helpful.
Reference
Sweet, P. L. (2022). Understanding gaslighting. Scientific American, 327(4),56-61.