Health, Mental health and Psychology: Gaslighting 101

Gaslighting 101

By Anon - 25/09/2023 20:00 - United States

Today, I volunteered to be a "mentally stable" person in a psychology experiment at my university. Little did I know, they'd paired me with a psychology grad student who asked me a series of increasingly bizarre and personal questions about my life. I ended up questioning my own sanity. FML

I agree, your life sucks 657

You deserved it 151

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Test subject

By Anonymous - 07/12/2009 21:05 - Canada

Today, I signed up for a psych experiment. I was a damsel in distress on the side of the highway, but no one stopped. Back at the lab, another participant said a half-dozen people helped her. The professor was testing how attractiveness affects altruism. I was the unattractive subject. FML

I agree, your life sucks 40 434

You deserved it 3 704

Guinea pig

By Troy - 03/04/2009 18:40 - United States

Today, I filled out a political survey for a psychology experiment. A really cute girl was doing it, too. We hit it off and flirted through the surveys, and I asked her out when it was done. Then I found out it was really an attraction experiment and she was in on it. She was acting. FML

I agree, your life sucks 80 889

You deserved it 7 813

By Danicole927 - 28/12/2016 03:53 - United States - Trenton

Today, I had a job interview with a world-renowned forensic psychologist, and it fits my degree perfectly. He didn't want to hire me, but he'd like me to return as a patient. FML

I agree, your life sucks 7 988

You deserved it 752

Insanity

By mental - 02/09/2019 18:01 - United States - Norfolk

Today, I had my first appointment with my new therapist. After I told her my family history and past abusive situations, she looked at me and asked, "How are you still sane?" FML

I agree, your life sucks 1 841

You deserved it 152

She's lost control again

By wellgreat - 14/04/2009 05:11 - United States

Today, I was in the Student Union when a man a came up to me and asked if I wanted to be in a study to see how men acted differently when working with attractive women. Flattered and taken aback, I agreed. He then told me I would be part of the control group to see how they act around plain looking women. FML

I agree, your life sucks 59 523

You deserved it 6 512

By Dave - 10/09/2009 13:37 - United States

Today, my girlfriend of 3 years told me that I was part of an experiment for her Sociology doctorate. I also learned that the notebooks she's been writing in for the past three years aren't for her "doctorate in literature" as she had told me, they were notes on my behavior for the past 3 years. FML

I agree, your life sucks 55 528

You deserved it 3 573

By Anonymous - 21/02/2014 02:46 - United States - Glasford

Today, at my therapy appointment, I was spilling my guts to my therapist. When I'd finished, to get rid of the awkward silence, I asked, "I'm not crazy, right?" His response was, "That's bit of a loaded question." FML

I agree, your life sucks 39 181

You deserved it 5 938

Testing, testing, 1-2, 1-2

By Decisions6 - 16/04/2020 05:00 - Denmark - Aarhus

Today, my therapist made me take a test to see what level my depression was at. There was a whole bunch of questions with multiple answers to choose from. One question was, "Do you find it harder to make decisions?" I couldn't decide which answer to pick. FML

I agree, your life sucks 1 563

You deserved it 323

By Anonymous - 24/05/2016 14:05

Today, I tried to change my usually stoic behaviour and be friendly to a coworker. Now she is convinced that I finally went insane and intend to murder her. FML

I agree, your life sucks 10 792

You deserved it 1 103

By Anonymous - 22/10/2012 10:54 - New Zealand - Auckland

Today, while at a psychiatric hospital working as a student nurse, I discovered one of the patients had developed an unhealthy obsession for me. He was admitted for stalking and abusing a girl who looked just like me. It's only my first week. FML

I agree, your life sucks 28 468

You deserved it 1 903

RichardPencil 30

Monday 25 September 2023 20:53

You think you're "mentally stable?" I'll bet you think you are an above-average driver, too.

Yudith 24

Tuesday 26 September 2023 18:58

When someone is searching for a "mentally stable" person, you can bet six beers it's for testing the person's mental stability. It's like asking for someone who can "work in a fast-paced environment".

Comments

RichardPencil 30

Monday 25 September 2023 20:53

You think you're "mentally stable?" I'll bet you think you are an above-average driver, too.

Billsonhamsen 17

Tuesday 26 September 2023 3:49

A lot of people are mentally stable. Probably most people are mentally stable. I'm not sure if this is a joke or if you're projecting. If anything all that this interaction proves is that people can try to gaslight you and as humans we are susceptible to that type of thing. There's a lot of crazy garbage like this going on in the world right now anyway.

Billsonhamsen 17

Tuesday 26 September 2023 3:51

I've read some pretty wild stories about people who are committed to mental institutions back in the day that probably shouldn't have been. They were treated in much the same way I imagine you were. You can read the stories. There's tons of them online. One of the first people to expose it was a female reporter named Nellie Bly. She got herself institutionalized on purpose just so she could report her experience. It was kind of bittersweet though because although there are less people who are forced to go to institutions there are also thousands and thousands of people who live on the streets nowadays that really should be in an institution.

Billsonhamsen 17

Tuesday 26 September 2023 3:53

Just in case anyone is cognitively impaired here I'm not suggesting all people living on the streets should be institutionalized. That should have gone without saying but I've read through comments on FML that tell me otherwise.