Drowning in jargon
JANG WON-SEOKThe author is a stock market news reporter of the JoongAng Ilbo.
Gaslighting, which originates from the 1930s play “Gaslight,” refers to strengthening mental control by manipulating others’ psychology or situations and interfering with their judgment. In the play, the wife sees the gaslight flickering and hears a noise but the husband claims that she is just hallucinating.
The husband is trying to hide his theft. While the wife is half doubtful at first, she considers it her fault in the end and trusts her husband, ultimately losing her ego.
While it sounds like a serious academic term, it is relatively recent that gaslighting began to appear in psychology and sociology papers. It became a new research topic as the term became widely used in everyday life.
It is quite common for a technical term to be used in daily life. Examples include depression, panic disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and sociopathy.
These terms mainly describe serious or negative condition; they need complicated explanations to apply them to a specific situation, but are used in everyday life. As a result, they are often misused or abused.
Gaslighting should be differentiated from lying, fraud, or brainwashing, but it is used in a distorted way. You can often find social media posts about being gaslighted, meaning “I am the victim and it’s not my fault.” Such postings highlight one’s damage and intends to attack others, as seen in the case of someone exposing a soccer player’s private life.
Depression and panic disorder, which are conditions requring a medical diagnosis, are now habitually used to describe a bad mood. It is unrelated to the actual symptom, but is used to mean, “This is how I feel” or “Please understand me.”
Using jargon in everyday life is not necessarily bad. If you frequently encounter the term “depression,” you become aware of the importance of prevention. You also cannot ignore the impact of people becoming more understanding of patients.
Users of language like to create interesting expressions, and in some cases, using a technical term makes it more convincing. Over a shocking sports match result, one may say, “I am experiencing PTSD.” It could be the current style of expression.
But it is a serious problem if a word that must not be taken lightly distorts facts or hurts others. You can hardly get away with it by just saying, “It was just for laughs.” It is time for one to know the accurate meaning of a term before using it.
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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