Some Clinical Consequences of Introjection: Gaslighting

Abstract

In the regression from the oedipal impulses some, perhaps many, people retreat to the introjective (oral) mode of defense. This and other defensive maneuvers culminate in a variety of behaviors which have been extensively and variously described in the literature. The authors describe, under the rubric of "gaslighting," an outcome of the introjective defense in which a victim and a victimizer join psychological modes in expressing and defending themselves against oral, incorporative impulses (greed), each in his or her own way.