The day I realized everyone keeps using 'gaslighting' wrong in the AITA sub

I saw a post last night where a guy said his girlfriend was 'gaslighting' him because she forgot to buy milk. Isn't gaslighting supposed to be a pattern of making someone doubt their own reality, not just a one-time mistake (even if annoying)? Has anyone else noticed this trend of watering down therapy words, or am I just being too picky about definitions?

3 comments

3 Comments

charlies3711d ago

Totally feel you on this one, it drives me nuts too how people just throw around serious terms for everyday stuff. You're not being picky, the word actually means something specific.

nancy_king2911d ago

Wait, @charlies37, did I used to be one of the people you're talking about? Huh. You might've changed my mind.

singh.harper11d agoMost Upvoted

I actually just read an article in Psychology Today that broke down how words like "gaslighting" and "trauma" are being used for everyday annoyances now. The author said it's making it harder for people who actually go through real gaslighting to be taken seriously. Like when someone genuinely is being manipulated into questioning their whole reality for months, but now it gets lumped in with someone just forgetting groceries. It makes me wonder if we're losing the language to describe really serious stuff because we're using it for everything.