The gaslighting is one of the spy methodologies. They might praise a subject to fall into their hands but it is an alternative to cause a damage if necessary. This is a basis of the good cop and bad cop as well, but the gaslighting employs this approach far-flung.
You might be blackmailed suddenly just walking down the street, which is one of them. It ranges from a subtle harassment such as sworn by passers-by to an opaque intimidation by the mafia and street gang. Although, the direct intimidation is a crime even if it is availed as one of the whole orchestration.
This is one of the critical points as it might not be categorized as a crime when passers-by have blackmailed subtly, as it is hard to prove its intention. This subtle swearing is actually enough to intimidate a subject mentally.
For example, you might be worried when just hinted that you are being watched, which is a general type of the gaslighting.
It is even unbearable to see your neighbors have talked secretly against you, which can be caused by the malicious intention of one of them but can be triggered by the faked crime information spread by the police and spy.
You should basically ignore a gaslighting, but better run away from your current environment if necessary. The majority of operation can be ignorable, which is easily escalated to the extreme. You might suffer from the mental problem at some point, which is ended up with either shutting yourself down or exploding against the community.
The paranoia can be also escalated when burnt out mentally, which certainly takes place without a gaslighting. It is one of the crucial points as it is quite hard to tell whether it is a result of the pure mental issue or the real harm from the outside. If losing a trust of your surroundings, you might be more vulnerable to the gaslighting.
The spy can leave this situation for good or show up as a good cop. Once you have trusted them, its relationship might be leveraged to hire you as an intelligence asset. In this methodology, the gaslighting plays a role of the baddy and the spy is assumed to be a rescuer of the goody, but this is just a system.
The gaslighting does not take place accidentally, which is availed to reach their specific goal. If it is conducted by the spy, the objective is highly likely an assetization, but it can be used as an elimination as well.
On the other hand, it might be one of the severe harassment if operated by the private investigators.