All daily inspirations can be found in the book Sex and Porn Addiction Healing and Recovery. Used here with permission of the author. Click the book cover image to purchase the book on Amazon.
Gaslighting is an attempt to alter the truth.
Gaslighting is a form of psychological abuse that involves the presentation of false information followed by dogged insistence that the information is true. For example, “I never said I’d be home by eight. I don’t know why you would think that,” and, “Why do you keep asking me if something is going on? You’re completely paranoid. It’s really annoying.” Even if we didn’t tell those exact lies as part of our addiction, we almost certainly told similar whoppers. And when our loved one worked up the courage to question our dishonesty, we flipped the script, insisting our lies were true and that our partner was either delusional or making things up for some absurd reason. We did everything possible to convince our partner that he or she was the issue, and his or her emotional and psychological reactions were the cause of rather than the result of problems in our relationship. In short, we made our partner question his or her perception of reality.
Task for Today
Stop denying your partner’s perception of reality.