I read about gaslighting at work from David Yamada's blog and it was defined to be a 'form of deliberate manipulation intended to disorient, confuse and frighten those on the receiving end.' One can see then how the bully can confuse and frighten its target with antics that distort and upset the one who is bullied.
In the book The Gaslight Effect: How To Spot and Survive the Hidden Manipulation Others Use to Control Your Life, gaslighting is a type of emotional manipulation in which a gas lighter (like a bully) tries too convince its target that the target is 'mismembering, misunderstanding or misinterpreting one's(the target's) behavior ...creating doubt in one's mind that leaves the target vulnerable and confused.'
Bullying incidents cause the one who is bullied to not only feel confused about themselves and their workplace environment but cause the targeted person to want to escape and not appear at their jobs. It appears that gaslighting is a form of bullying behavior, that should be avoided at all costs.
Visit www.bullyingpreventionconsulting.com
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