Gaslighting 101 - Pierce The Darkness contribution

Gas lighting is a form of brainwashing.

Simply put gas lighting is a form of brainwashing that is meant to make one doubt one’s own beliefs, thoughts, and perceptions. It is a method that narcissists employ with great success to control those close to them. Gas lighting however is somewhat difficult to execute successfully because it essentially demands that others change their basic core beliefs and replace them with those of the gas lighter. Most people vigorously defend their beliefs and become quite resistant unless properly conditioned beforehand. These techniques are not unlike those used by religious cults to brainwash new members.

Gas lighting therefore to be effective usually starts off gradually and grows slowly and incrementally over time as each new hurdle of resistance is in turn overcome. The gas lighter must be consistent and regular in reinforcing their message that you are wrong and they are right. In order to successfully gaslight someone a narcissist will carefully pick and then groom that target for some time before actually initiating the techniques needed to sway their intended target.

Gaslighting 101: Techniques revealed - Denial

There are a number of different methods used to gaslight someone. One important method is Denial, examples of Denial are:

"I never said that" , "You are imagining things", "You are always accusing me"

It is simple but effective. Don’t underestimate its power.

Gas lighting 101: Techniques revealed – Confiding supposed secrets

Another common technique employed is confiding what others supposedly think about the target. Imagine a girl meeting a group of friends to go out dancing and one friend who is jealous of the attention a particular friend usually get in such outings tells this person that some of the other girls think she ruins their chances meeting guys by saying stupid things. This plants a seed of doubt in the targets head that the gas lighter hopes will grow and multiply. In order to be effective it should be realistic and not too extreme…the idea is to plant a shred of doubt and let the target grow it internally into something bigger.

Gas lighting 101- Techniques Revealed – Disorientation

In this technique the gas lighter hopes to create a sense of disorientation that will make the target question their own memory. Examples of this are:

1. Switching around meeting times and appointments. 2. Meeting at a different location and then denying it was wrong. 3. Moving objects from one location to another.

Gas lighting 101- Techniques Revealed – Playing up your fears

In this technique the gas lighter simply hopes to awaken the targets own fears. Examples of this are:

1. “If I leave you will be homeless and broke.” 2. “You will never meet someone else.” 3. “You will lose everything.”

Gas lighting 101: Techniques Revealed – Questioning what you believe

Another method of gas lighting involves questioning the target. Examples of this are:

1. “Are you sure you want to do that?” 2. “Why are you doing it that way?” 3. “Wouldn't it be better if you did it this way instead?”

& how

You will be held to the highest standards and not allowed barely an in of fault.

The narcissist on another hand will act or do pretty much as he or she wants laughing at you privately as they deny any wrongdoing or unreasonability.

They will get away with murder while you have the book thrown at you for the most insignificant things.

Expect this and simply do the best you can...you and I know the truth.

Poisonous parasite.

Psychopaths poison minds—that is their greatest skill. After they sink their claws into you, they begin to twist your words and manipulate your mind. You will never again experience someone who so carefully manufactures your every thought. Once you are free from their calculated games, you will be horrified to discover how deeply you were triangulated against perfectly good people, and led into a constant state of negativity & anxiety. And when the parasite is gone from your life for good, your free-will slowly returns as the false reality finally comes crashing down. You realize it was not you and the psychopath against the world—it was only the psychopath against you.

Even your lies are...credible. Amazing logic.

Narcissists can't BELIEVE when others find their victims 'CREDIBLE'. They spent so much of the abusive relationship trying to ENSURE that they'd NEVER be seen as credible.

Curious, indeed.

It's CURIOUS how a narcissist claims to have a stalker or be the one who was victimized, yet THEY NEVER seek any help for the said "abuse" nor do ANYTHING to give back to other targets. 

Whereas the REAL TARGET seeks to understand, seeks help, seeks answers to the questions about WHY we were abused, what we can do to prevent it, and most importantly seek to AID those who might also be going through the same thing. 

The TRUTH is in the ACTION & DETAILS of the TRUE target; not in the lip service lies that a narcissist gives in order to escape consequences & get supply in the form of "Poor me".

Who cares, though..not you!

Dear Mrs. Delusional...

One of the symptoms of Narcissistic Pers. Disorder is delusional thinking and rationalizing. This is not the same thing as just being self-absorbed or self-centered~ those with NPD literally make up stories about themselves and others, and seem to completely believe that they're true. Whether it's intentional or not is up for speculation, however the nature of DELUSIONAL disorder is that it's NOT intentional. It's more like one part of the person's mind weaves stories about other people, situations, and themselves, and the other part of the person's mind BELIEVES these stories. As if there are TWO people involved, not just one.
The person's mind appears to be split, and one part creates the fiction, and the other part which feels like the "self" believes it and perpetuates it, retelling these stories. The more they tell them, the more real they seem, both to the person and to those being told these stories.

The Delusion takes little bits of reality and builds completely fictional stories around these little bits. Children are seen to do this in play, and also in trying to get out of consequences. Children may also do this to extol consequences on another person. It's NOT "Delusional" when children make up fantasies and act like they're real, it's part of childhood and mind development. The problem is when a person does this in adulthood, and behaves as if the stories are real.

Disgusting Parent In Disguise.

A Loving Father Prays...

Gaslight for Brains

Surrrre.

Apology? Screw you! Says the Narc.

If you're waiting for an apology from the narcissist, PLEASE, just let that go now - You'll NEVER get one that means anything. Even if they say the words...they don't MEAN it.

Here's why Narcissists are incapable of ever genuinely apologizing:

1. They don't accept responsibility - it's ALWAYS someone else's fault

2. Power & Control prevents them from truly being vulnerable enough to apologize

3. Their disordered personality construct is designed NOT to tolerate shame / vulnerability. Culpability, personal self blame is required in order to feel both guilty and genuinely sorry.

4. They don't have boundaries. They don't recognize that you are a separate person. If they don't feel the hurt that they caused you, then they think YOU couldn't possibly feel it either; thus preventing them from empathizing enough to offer an apology.

5. Seared Conscience - Narcissists are incapable of answering to a Higher Power, when they believe they're their own higher power (don't listen to them tell you they're a christian - that's just another "image" they pretend to have); thus, they don't have a conscience to appeal to. With NOTHING or NO ONE to convict them of wrongdoing...they're "scott-free".

Actions of an Alienating Parent

• Doesn’t inform you of upcoming school activities (especially unexpected ones)
• Expresses no enthusiasm for fun events you’re doing with the child (vacations, amusement parks, etc)
• Limits child’s cellphone and computer usage, so you’ll rarely get a call, text, or email
• Accomplishes a post-visitation shakedown, extracting as much info as possible to find negatives
• Able to hold resentment towards young, innocent children (ie, your children from another marriage)
• Never calls you when the child is sick or taken out of school
• Teaches the child adult things to tell you, such as “I don’t feel comfortable about the duration of our summer visitation, Dad”
• Labels themselves the “good” parent; labels you the “bad” parent
• Tells the child false stories about their childhood
• Tells the child in vivid detail how he or she was victimized by you (while taking no blame at all for the divorce)
• Teaches the child how to lie to you (coating their little hearts with false malice and scorn)
• Diminishes your extended family’s worth
• Neglects to have the child call you for your birthday, on New Year’s Eve, or other important dates
• Refuses to help the child reach and call/email/mail cards on relatives’ birthdays on your side of the family tree
• Uses child’s cellphone as a leash
• Never gets the child excited about seeing you
• Reminds the child of all that he or she will be missing while with you and away from them
• Inflicts his or her unhappiness onto the child (as alienators are deeply unhappy people)
• Attempts via a lawyer to reduce visitation to that even below family court minimum standards
• Takes the child out of state without a peep, while demands precise details whenever you travel with them
• Monopolizes the child’s time for hours on the phone (if you let them)
• Views any event in the child’s life– a distant Aunt’s birthday, a friend’s birthday, etc– as more important than their time with you
• Teaches the children from their current marriage to despise you
• Informs children of alienator’s plans for them past 18 (you’ll go to college at X, and will stay here with me)
• Is jealous of anything fun and memorable you do with the child (as they view the good times as a threat)
• Gripes about things you’re doing as a parent to the child, but says nothing to you about it
• Has outbursts around the child (extremely dramatic ones)

Empathy is Gone.

Lack of empathy is one of the most striking features of people with narcissistic personality disorder. It's a hallmark of the disorder in the same way that fear of abandonment is in borderline personality disorder.

"Narcissists do not consider the pain they inflict on others; nor do they give any credence to others' perceptions," says Dr. Les Carter in the book Enough of You, Let's Talk About Me (p. 9). "They simply do not care about thoughts and feelings that conflict with their own." Do not expect them to listen, validate, understand, or support you.

Never let a narcissist determine your self-worth. Narcissists lack empathy and the ability to validate others, so don't trust them with sensitive information or sharing important achievements because they won’t treat it with the respect it deserves.

Pity the Narcissist. Arrogance doesn't inspire sympathy or compassion. But at the end of the day, when you think about it, pity may be the only emotion evoked by someone who is so desperately in need of constant compliments, attention and validation.

Source.

Confusion is Insurance.

Victims or targets of a narcissistic personality leave the interaction, feeling Baffled, confused, and SELF BLAMING.

It is more often that a target of a narcissist will seek out therapy, often complaining to the therapist, that they suffer a general malaise and dis - ease with their lives; wondering what is WRONG with them.

As a person begins to understand the dynamics of a narcissistic personality, they begin to not only feel the relief that the problem is NOT themselves, as they've been blamed or encouraged to believe, but rather the presence of a personality disorder in the person they've been so baffled by.

With knowledge, comes POWER. The power to walk away from and establish boundaries to reclaim your identity, as narcissists are the CONSUMMATE identity thieves. Often taking what they want from a person they view as an 'OBJECT' and then leaving them in the dust and destruction of the chaos they caused in that person's life.

Source.

Sheep Attire

Often, a narcissist who is unaware or unwilling to come to terms with the mental deficiencies they possess will convince themselves that *they* are actually an Empath - someone who has an acute or highly developed sense of empathy. In actuality, a narcissist has a severe lack of empathy and is only ever attuned to their own emotions and needs, but they believe they are the expert people-readers, always expertly attuned to the emotions and needs of other people. What a narcissist is actually tuned into is the survey of vulnerability or fortitude in those around them. The narcissist only gives their emotional love to those they believe are worthy...which means to those who do not see, or confront them too deeply about the mental crimes that they commit against others. The narc can sense people who see beyond the excellent fake exterior that they work hard at portraying, and they will immediately sense the threat to their mask being revealed and start a campaign to assassinate the character of the person that they feel threatened by.

A Narc believes they have the right to other people's belongings, other people's personal liberties, and they believe they know the how and why of almost anything - especially in regards to their victims/targets. They will lie relentlessly while claiming arrogantly that their perspective is supreme and if you perspective or feelings disagree, then you need to be fixed, and they are perfect. They believe they have the right to demand from you whatever they want, while also getting off on deciphering what it is that their victim wants/needs and if they can, working to siphon off the victim's ability to have their needs or wants met. This gives them the sense of power and control they believe they have the right to have. They convince themselves that they have the right to power and control over you because they are the smarter, better, or more responsible. They work to put you down and convince *you* that you are not adequate, and they tend to victimize people who they "intuitively" glean as being easy to dominate - at least for a long enough period of time to feed the Narc's need to feed on the weaknesses of others (narc supply). Once the narc realizes that they can receive an easier or more supply of emotional and mental submission from another victim, they will discard the current victim and tell the victim that it is their fault that they are being left. Narc's never take responsibilities, and apologies are feigned and superficial, if they are ever said at all.

Why?

I have known my husband since I was 17 and he was 20. He was my best friend's high school sweetheart, and one of my favorite people on earth. In one sudden move, he broke up with my best friend and abruptly fell off the face of the earth. Years later, I finally found him --- married to the woman whom he'd left my best friend for and miserable. His wife had effectively isolated him from his family, convinced him that he was a drug addict, forced into NA, and obliterated his sense of self. He was a shell of who he used to be, his spirit was dim, and his heart was crushed. It took him eight years, but he finally shut down completely and reached levels of hopelessness that he'd never imagined. The marriage ended with his being falsely accused and wrongly convicted of domestic violence against a family member; and she took the house, the car, the kids, and any shred of dignity that she could get out of him along the way. 

This is a very short version obviously, but the pain of what he went through, paired with the pain of what she has put him through since the marriage ended is hard to describe. Physical abuse is easy to explain and prove, but emotional abuse is a devastation that can steal years of your life. These are his stories, our experience, and information we have used to help us navigate through having to withstand a true Narcissist at work.