Gaslighting word of the year 2022 : ‘Gaslighting’ has been chosen as the word of the year. When British playwright Patrick Hamilton wrote the play Gaslight in 1938, he had no idea how many times the term would be used in the 21st century. Two films were also made in the 1940s on the play Gas Light. In the year 2022, this word has been searched a lot and America’s oldest dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster has selected ‘Gaslighting’ as the Word of the Year.
According to the company, in the year 2022, there is a 1,740% increase in searches on the website for the term gaslighting. Gaslighting means playing with someone psychologically, meaning deceiving them in such a way that they become confused and doubt their own worth. Gaslighting is the act or practice of misleading someone, especially for your own benefit. Merriam-Webster said in a statement that ‘in this age of misinformation,’ fake news, conspiracy theories, Twitter trolls and deep artificiality, ‘gaslighting has emerged as a word for our times.’ In this, many times the victim does not even know that he is being victimized.
Gaslighting can have a very bad effect on a person’s psychology. Due to this, the victims gradually start losing self-confidence and self-esteem. The person doing the gaslighting plays psychologically with the other person and cheats him. He questions his existence, truth, decisions and memories. It can be personal, political or business level manipulation. That’s why, along with understanding the meaning of this word, it is also necessary to see whether the same thing is happening with you or someone close to you. Understanding this type of game, you have to learn how to get out of it and save yourself.