The “Lingering Exhaustion That Doesn’t Easily Go Away” as a Aftereffect of Gaslighting, and Why I’ve Avoided Being Around People
4月 24, 2026菅原隆志46 min read
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※This article touches on heavy topics such as gaslighting, dysfunctional family relationships, and trauma responses. I’d be grateful if you could read it only to the extent that feels comfortable, while prioritizing your current mental state above all else.
In the article above, “The Psychological Aftereffects of Gaslighting—Until Your Nerves and Body Are Worn to the Bone,” as an aftereffect of gaslighting,
there is the phrase
“lingering exhaustion that doesn’t easily go away.” Please read it if you’d like.
That article, based on the views and research of experts overseas, is a fairly objective piece that organizes just how deeply gaslighting can damage both mind and body.
But, to tell the truth, that “lingering exhaustion that doesn’t easily go away” is also a feelingthat I still carry with me.
Years of gaslighting, and the exhaustion that still remains
For many years in the past, I was subjected to gaslighting. What happened then has already been written about in detail in previous articles and books, so I won’t go into specifics here, but in simple terms,
my own perceptions and memories were repeatedly denied; the perpetrator’s invented stories
my emotions were dismissed as “bad things” or as if they didn’t exist; pain, sadness, and suffering
any time I pointed something out, it was twisted around and I was made the villain (basically a false accusation in the emotional sense)
I was left carrying moral injury
and that statecontinued for a long timewithout letup. (In reality, it was even more complex.)
Even after I left that environment, and even now, a long time later,
talking with people can leave me utterly exhausted and unable to move
I stay on edge throughout the conversation, and afterward I feel like I could spend days in bed
There was a time when the ringing in my head was severe
Even a slight facial expression or choice of words can cause my body to feel stressed and become unwell
That kind of “exhaustion,”still remainsin part, without ever fully returning to normal.
In my head, I know “I’m not in that place anymore” and “the person in front of me is not that person,” and I can explain it logically too. Even so, my nerves and body still react as if I’m on a battlefield. (It has lessened a lot, but still.)
As a result,
“meeting a normal person and talking normally” stayed, for a long time, a huge burden for me.
Why gaslighting leaves such serious “aftereffects”
To be honest, even when people hear about gaslighting, there are those who think, “Really? Can someone be that worn down by something like that?” and don’t quite get it. If I hadn’t gone through this myself, I probably wouldn’t have understood it either, even if I heard survivors talk about it.
For example, imagine hearing that someone had endured, for a long time, severe violence or torture-level abuse. What would you think? Even if they were left with intense fear or trauma, most people would instinctively understand, “Of course that would happen.”
What makes gaslighting so insidious is that the“torture” is not carried out on the body, but inside the mind.
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