The Phenomenon of Gaslighting. Psychoanalytical View

The American explanatory dictionary Merriam-Webster has named "gaslighting" as the word of 2022.According to Merriam-Webster, the number of queries about the meaning of the word in 2022 increased by 1740% compared to 2021 - with high interest observed throughout the year. The creators of the dictionary explained their choice of word of the year by saying that the present time can be called the age of misinformation, as the number of fake news, conspiracy theories, dipfakes and online trolls is increasing day by day. At the same time, the use of gaslighting as a manipulation tactic is penetrating all spheres of life. While initially gaslighting was used to denote manipulative strategies in intimate-personal and child-parent relations, in modern conditions of life we have to recognise the facts of gaslighting in professional relations, in the sphere of services and medical care, and in political relations. The term "gaslighting" was introduced into the Oxford English Dictionary in 2004, although the documented evidence of the use of the term dates back to 1952. The term was first used by playwright P. Hamilton in his play of 1938. And the popularity of the word was brought by the film adaptation of the play in 1944. The meaning of gaslighting, according to the play, was a series of psychological manipulations designed to convince a person of his alleged inadequacy, non-existent violations of reason. The subject of the study is the peculiarities of the phenomenon of gaslighting from the point of view of psychoanalytical positions. Hypothesis of the study: 1. From psychoanalytical positions, gaslighting can be considered as a variant of introjection and projection, as a case of narcissistic perversion, and also as upbringing in conditions of "airless space" with a denying parent. 2. It is assumed that the signs that allow to identify gaslighting are isolation of the object (both physical and psychological through the exploitation of guilt and shame), disqualification by the significant Other of his/her inner conscience, manipulation and inclusion of the third.