3 Ways Gaslighting Impacts Long-Term Mental Health

Gaslighting—a form of manipulation that works to convince others their reality is false—can manifest in multiple ways; manipulators may lie outright to their victims, minimize others’ emotions or opinions, deny the occurrence of actual events, and more. Because gaslighting takes place in the psychological realm, recent research has examined the correlation between long-term exposure to gaslighting and mental health, with compelling results.

The findings are complex, but one outcome is certain: Gaslighting has a direct, harmful effect on mental health, particularly when it takes place over an extended period. Continual attacks on one’s sense of reality cause victims to question their sanity, and most psychological manipulators are skilled at getting into their victims’ heads.

Gaslighting preys on emotions, mood, and self-perceptions. It often starts small, to poke holes in a victim’s confidence in their reality, before gradually building to a distortion of reality, while forcefully denying the truth and insisting victims are wrong in their perceptions. Once gaslighting reaches the stage of distorting reality, victims must be firmly entrenched in their manipulator’s grasp—or the tactics won’t work.

Chronic Gaslighting and Mental Health

Long-term psychological manipulation is devastating, and research shows that chronic exposure to gaslighting can impact mental health in three major ways:

1. Unresolved trauma

Gaslighting is traumatizing in every way, as it seeks to exert power and control over someone to the point of warping what they know to be true. Dishonesty, a classic form of gaslighting, wreaks havoc on intimate relationships, creating barriers to trust while sewing seeds of doubt into every interaction. Continuous dishonesty is often used by manipulators to protect themselves, hide their true behaviors, and convince people external to the relationship that they are not at fault.

Individuals who employ gaslighting often blatantly lie in outlandish ways—and expect everyone around them to believe what they say, simply because they said it. That sets victims up not only to question their own beliefs and perceptions but also to be isolated from support systems that fall prey to their abuser’s behaviors.

Loss of power and control, when combined with potential isolation from loved ones and significant self-doubt, leads to unresolved trauma. Trauma that is ongoing and not addressed leads to re-traumatization, when the experience of trauma becomes exponentially worse each time it is experienced.

2. Thinking errors

Gaslighting forces victims to question reality at every turn. Mistrust and suspicion build, and, eventually, if escape is not an option, their interactions with others will suffer. People who are being exposed to manipulation long term become entrenched in uncertainty and fear.

That kind of chronic emotional pressure often influences thought patterns and can produce cognitive errors. New relationships may take a backseat to paranoid thoughts, which, in turn, leave victims even more alone and cut off from others. Victims may believe that the world is out to get them, knowing their manipulator is doing just that at every opportunity. They often believe they are worthless and undeserving of being treated well.

Thinking errors trigger emotional responses and behavior, leading to a vicious cycle that, when unchecked, severely distresses mental well-being.

3. Anxiety

Chronic gaslighting causes victims to doubt their reality and walk on eggshells, always waiting for the next attack. They learn to distrust others’ motives due to being repeatedly hurt, and the psychological impact of managing that becomes overwhelming in time.

Surviving such stress often causes anxiety. Victims sense impending doom, feel they exist in a world that is unsafe, and experience deep panic at situations that feel outside of their control. The reason for that is logical: They have been vulnerable and exposed to chronic abuse centered on robbing them of their personal power.

Gaslighting Essential Reads

How Gaslighters Con Their Partners into Believing Them

It’s Time to Stop Arguing With Yourself

Gaslighting over the long term creates disparities and power imbalances in relationships, an environment that is ripe for anxiety to develop.

The Next Steps

Gaslighting has undeniable impacts on mental health and well-being, with chronic gaslighting potentially causing several harmful psychological developments. Trauma-focused treatment can help mitigate the effects of gaslighting, though the road to recovery is long and littered with hard work and emotional distress. For victims who can escape, healing can begin more quickly; for those who are unable to leave their situation, healing can take much longer.

Understanding the impacts of chronic gaslighting on mental health is an important step to helping victims recognize that what they are experiencing is a psychological abuse tool meant to undermine their personal power and exert control over them. Once victims understand what is occurring, they can move forward in taking that power back and protecting themselves from further abuse.