Gaslighting
Thought about it – people can handle pain or loss, but not so much the sense that their own mind is unreliable.
Gaslighting hijacks the very instrument that we depend upon to be sane and functional.
The outcome is psychological entropy. In neurological terms, it’s a conditioning process where the decision-making circuits are rewired toward external validation instead of identifying truth.
That would be very ineffective if you’re in a jungle avoiding tigers or enemies. Then, you either break, or break the loop and reclaim your own narrative.
But here and now, you can just live with it, like you live with social media.
You can gaslight someone you love. It doesn’t always come from malice; sometimes it’s fear, insecurity, or the inability to face one’s own contradictions. People do it to preserve control, avoid shame, or protect the version of reality that keeps them intact. Some can’t bear being wrong, others equate persuasion with love, and many simply find denial easier than repair. Often it’s learned behaviour – truth treated as flexible since childhood.
TL;DR – They can’t necessarily help it, so I’m going with empathy.
offshore westerly 