Three warning signs you’re gaslighting yourself
A psychologist has shared the three signs that suggest you could be gaslighting yourself.
Dr Julie Smith, a clinical psychologist from Hampshire, has listed the top three self-sabotaging behaviours, which range from blaming yourself to not acknowledging your feelings.
Gaslighting is a form of emotional abuse and manipulation that is often linked with toxic relationships with others.
The term refers to someone making another person question their own thoughts, feelings, and perception of reality.
She said the main sign of self-sabotaging gaslighting is constantly blaming yourself for things out of your control.
“You make excuses for other people’s behaviour - but if you make a mistake, you believe it says something fundamental about who you are as a person,” Dr Smith explained in her now-viral Tik Tok video.
Another sign is never trusting your own judgement, or ignoring your gut instinct.
“But you see the opinions of other people as much more credible source so you live in an almost constant state of self-doubt and you look at other people for clarity,” she said.
The final sign, according to Dr Smith, is invalidating or ignoring your own feelings.
“You come to believe that you’re oversensitive or you overreact so you don’t know which emotions you listen to anymore,” she said.
Her video has struck a chord with many viewers, with thousands of people commenting that her examples are “painfully relatable”.
“Oh wow that hit me. How would someone stop doing this? It feels like it’s just second nature for me,” one woman wrote.
According to Dr Smith, finding time to meet your own physical and emotional needs through self-care practises can help to reclaim your energy, and hold onto your sense of self.
Image credits: Getty Images