Institutional Gaslighting (noun, systemic strategy)

Institutional Gaslighting (noun, systemic strategy)

Pronunciation: /ˌɪnstɪˈtjuːʃənəl ˈɡæsˌlaɪtɪŋ/

1. The coordinated erasure of harm through denial, distortion, and delayed response.

A refined art in negligent kingdoms, where the system convinces the complainant that the problem is not the policy but their perception of it.

2. In SWANKian usage:

A psychological manoeuvre embedded in protocol. Occurs when a service user is led to doubt their memory, health, or sense of reality after encountering forms of neglect that are technically documented but practically dismissed.

Common Symptoms:

1. You’re told your “experience is not typical.”
2. Every meeting feels like déjà vu with amnesia.
3. You leave interactions with more doubt than you came in with.
4. Records contradict themselves—and still contradict you.

Techniques Include:

1. “We’ve never heard that before.”
2. “That’s not in your file.”
3. “That must have been a miscommunication.”
4. “Our staff would never say that.”
5. “Have you considered therapy?”

Etymology:

A fusion of gaslighting (psychological manipulation to make someone question their reality) and institutionalisation (the process of embedding dysfunction so deeply it becomes policy).

See also:

Professional Pretence, The Theatre of Safeguarding, Whinging (reclaimed), Trauma by Protocol