The Dangers of Workplace Gaslighting and How It Affects Employees

Since many Malaysians do not understand gaslighting or why it occurs, it often goes unreported in the workplace. 

Workplace gaslighting is a type of workplace harassment that uses deception to get the victim punished or fired for something they aren't doing. 

Gaslighting can involve lying to a victim to make them believe something they don't want to believe or arguing with a victim until they believe the attacker is right and they're wrong.

Gaslighting and Its Consequences

As the term implies, gaslighting may be extremely dangerous, starting as a tiny spark and growing into a raging fire of doubt and disorientation. Individuals who are subjected to workplace gaslighting and other forms of harassment encounter a variety of challenges, including:

• Self-doubt

• Low self-confidence

• Inability to feel at ease in social and professional situations

• Beliefs are changing.

• Dissonance in the mind

People who use workplace gaslighting to get what they want are sometimes projecting their own issues onto others. 

For instance, they could be falsifying paperwork at work and convincing another employee that it was them who did it. The gaslighter is projecting their own acts onto another in this case. This is usually done not simply to get out of trouble but also to hurt or control the other person intentionally.

Signs of Gaslighting in the Workplace

Workplace harassment comes in various forms, with workplace gaslighting being one of the worst. The difficulty with gaslighting is that it is not always visible, making it difficult to detect and report. 

You can tell if you're being controlled at work by looking for indicators of workplace gaslighting. These are some of the warning signs:

• Denying what they have done: When a gaslighter commits an offence, they immediately go into defence mode. Even if something has recently happened or can be proven to have happened, a gaslighter will deny it and will stick to the lie, attempting to persuade you to believe it.

• Using weakness to manipulate: Workplace gaslighting works because coworkers learn so much about you as you work together. It exposes your flaws, such as your children, family, or pets. Knowing your priorities makes it easy for a gaslighter to make you feel unworthy of their attention.

• Openly lying: Even when the deception is evident, gaslighters have a flair for lying without breaking a sweat or batting an eye. It is one of the tricks they use to make you believe the deception is true. It could be a workplace gaslighting approach if you notice a coworker lying frequently and thoroughly.

• Workplace harassment that endures: Workplace gaslighting does not happen in a single sitting. It's a long game that takes months or even years of collaboration. The victim's belief that the harassment must be true grows as the harassment continues.

• Using negs: A "neg" is a negative statement or comment usually accompanied by one or two positive remarks. The purpose of using a neg is to make the victim believe they are being told something positive about themselves or that the abuser is a friend who cares about them. In reality, they are sowing seeds of doubt. As a result, the victim becomes perplexed, making it difficult to catch the gaslighter.

Taking Action Against Gaslighting in the Workplace

Once you've established that you're being gaslighted at work, there are a few steps you may take to defend yourself.

1. Let HR know: Obtain proper documentation of what has occurred by speaking with your HR representative. Even if you don't think you can prove what's going on to your HR rep, reporting it and having it on file increases your chances of a successful workplace gaslighting case.

2. Take notes: Documenting your work history might assist an employment lawyer in seeing indicators of workplace gaslighting that you may have overlooked. This is especially beneficial because many gaslighters have a way of making you forget about something or making you believe you are the one who caused the situation. Things become more evident when you have your eyes on the outside, looking in, and writing everything down gives you this opportunity.

3. Ask around: Consult with coworkers you know and trust. If you're experiencing workplace harassment, you're probably not alone. To make themselves feel more powerful, many gaslighters inflict their nastiness on people.

Last but not least, victims of workplace gaslighting must recognise that what is going on is not their fault. HR staff must also understand that workplace gaslighting is a real phenomenon and be on the lookout for it.

Source: Dyer, Garofalo, Mann & Schultz

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