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Gaslighting is a sinister action which, depending on the exact circumstances of the situation involved, could be considered a form of intimidation, torture, harassment, or psychological abuse. It is a technique used to either scare a person, or to cause them to appear to discredit their own judgment or even sanity in front of others.

Examples

An example of gaslighting someone with the intent to frighten or intimidate them would be to break into their home while they're away, and re-arrange their furniture or make some other sort of change in the environment, but to leave no trace of the break-in (i.e. no broken window or jimmied door lock) - thus making it clear to the person being gaslighted that they're not secure in their own home, and that the perpetrator is anonymous and can come and go unannounced (thus adding additional dimensions of fear)...but as no evidence is left, the person might come across as "crazy" or "over-reacting" if they tried to tell someone else (i.e. a friend, or a law enforement officer).

A different way that gaslighting could be used to induce fear or intimidate is to harm someone -- for example, sexually abuse a child -- and tell them "if you tell XYZ"- i.e. the police, your parents, etc. -"they won't believe you". This is used against adults and children of both sexes, and is common in everything from spousal abuse to sexual abuse. Gaslighting can also be used by people in positions of power against people in their control, i.e. a worker at a psychiatric ward against a patient in the form of "who do you think they're going to believe, a doctor, or an inmate at a psych ward?", something which was a theme in the book One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

As an example of gaslighting someone with the intent to make them question their own sanity for the purposes of causing them severe emotional distress, and also possibly with the intent to make others question the person's sanity as well, gaslighting is perpetrated by a person known to the gaslightee. For example: an abusive and controlling husband who wants to manipulate his wife into questioning her own sanity and experience the severe emotional distress that results, changes things in the home environment -- he moves her keys from where she knows (or thinks she knows) she left them, after she changes a light bulb he puts the burned-out one back in the socket, etc.; and when his wife says "gee, that's odd, I could swear I remember doing XYZ", he acts genuinely surprised and perhaps even insists that he saw her doing the opposite, etc.; it may sound harmless, but with properly-chosen actions executed over a period of time, a person can be worn down.

This could also be played out by the gaslighter in such a way so as to make the gaslightee appear to others as though they're "losing their mind", for reasons such as getting a court to declare the gaslightee mentally incompetent and grant custody of his/her estate and finances to the gaslighter, for obvious selfish reasons.

Another form of gaslighting involves an increasing frequency of systematically withholding factual information from, and/or providing false information to the gaslightee, having the gradual effect of making them anxious, confused, and less able to trust their own memory and perception.

Origin of the term

The term was coined from the 1940 film Gaslight and its 1944 remake in which changes in gas light levels are experienced several times by the main character. The classic example in the film is the character Gregory using the gas lamps in the attic, causing the rest of the lamps in the house to dim slightly; when Paula comments on the lights' dimming, she is told she is imagining things. Paula believes herself alone in the house when the dimming occurs, unaware that Gregory has entered the attic from the house next door. The sinister interpretation of the change in light levels is part of a larger pattern of deception to which the character Paula is subjected.

Use in real life

An example of gaslighting being used in real life was by the Manson Family during their "creepy crawler" burglaries during which nothing was stolen, but furniture in the house was rearranged.

Cultural references

In the 2001 movie Amélie, the titular protagonist embarks on a mission to gaslight her local grocer as punishment for his cruelty toward his intellectually impaired assistant, Lucien. Amelie switches his lightbulbs with lower wattage bulbs and replaces his slippers with smaller ones, among other tricks.

In Roman Polanski's film, Rosemary's Baby, Rosemary's husband and neighbors conspire to use her to mother the anti-christ, through the use of drugs and convincing her that she is mentally ill.

On their album Two Against Nature, the band Steely Dan include the song "Gaslighting Abbie" about two people conspiring to torment their room-mate.

In the 2007 movie The Darjeeling Limited, Adrien Brody's character asks Jason Schwartzman's character "Could she be gaslighting you?" when he discovers his ex-girlfriend had placed her perfume into his luggage.

In the 2007 Edward Burns film, Purple Violets, Debra Messing's character implores Selma Blair's character not to let her husband "gaslight her".

The play The Mystery of Irma Vep makes reference to this with a scene where Lady Enid is recounting to her husband all of the strange things that have been happening in the house whereupon the lights begin dimming. When she comments on it, her husband assures her that the lights are not dimming, convincing her that she must be going crazy.

In Law & Order: Criminal Intent season 7, episode 22 (first aired August 24, 2008), Detective Eames (Kathryn Erbe) tells her partner Goren (Vincent D'Onofrio) that someone is "gaslighting" him. An as yet unidentified killer has arranged circumstances to bring suspicion upon and to unsettle Detective Goren in the murders of his brother (Tony Goldwyn) and his nemesis played by Olivia D'Abo.

On the popular TV show Murder, She Wrote, in the episode "Reflections of the Mind", Jessica's friend Francesca Lodge is gaslighted by relatives and acquaintances attempting to make her question her own sanity.

References

Santoro, Victor (1994). Gaslighting: How to Drive Your Enemies Crazy. Loompanics Unlimited. ISBN 1-55950-113-8. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
Stern, Dr. Robin (2007). The Gaslight Effect: How to Spot and Survive the Hidden Manipulation Others Use to Control Your Life. Broadway. ISBN 978-0767924450. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
George Cukor (director) (1944). Gaslight (35 mm). MGM.

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 {{otheruses3|gaslight}}
+'''Gaslighting''' is a sinister action which, depending on the exact circumstances of the situation involved, could be considered a form of [[intimidation]], [[torture]], [[harassment]], or [[psychological abuse]]. It is a technique used to either scare a person, or to cause them to appear to discredit their own judgment or even sanity in front of others.
-'''Gaslighting''' is a form of [[psychological abuse]]. It involves systematically withholding factual information from, or providing false information to the subject, having the gradual effect of making the victim anxious, confused, and less able to trust his or her own memory and perception. A variation of gaslighting, used as a form of harassment, is to subtly alter aspects of a victim's environment, thereby upsetting his or her peace of mind and sense of security.
-The term was coined from the 1940 film [[Gaslight (1940 film)|''Gaslight'']] and its [[Gaslight (1944 film)|1944 remake]] in which changes in gas light levels are experienced several times by the main character. The classic example in the film is the character Gregory using the gas lamps in the attic, causing the rest of the lamps in the house to dim slightly; when Paula comments on the lights' dimming, she is told she is imagining things.  Paula believes herself alone in the house when the dimming occurs, unaware that Gregory has entered the attic from the house next door.  The sinister interpretation of the change in light levels is part of a larger pattern of deception to which the character Paula is subjected.
 ==Examples==
+An example of gaslighting someone with the intent to frighten or intimidate them would be to break into their home while they're away, and re-arrange their furniture or make some other sort of change in the environment, but to leave no trace of the break-in (i.e. no broken window or jimmied door lock) - thus making it clear to the person being gaslighted that they're not secure in their own home, and that the perpetrator is anonymous and can come and go unannounced (thus adding additional dimensions of fear)...but as no evidence is left, the person might come across as "crazy" or "over-reacting" if they tried to tell someone else (i.e. a friend, or a law enforement officer).
-{{originalresearch}}
-Gaslighting can be used to force a victim into questioning their own sanity, and to suffer severe emotional distress as a result. This could be done by making small changes in the home environment - moving the victim's keys from where they know they left them, or putting a burned-out light bulb back into the socket after the victim had replaced it. When the victim remarks on the oddness of the situation, the gaslighter would act genuinely surprised and perhaps even insist that he saw the victim doing the opposite. With properly-chosen actions executed over a period of time, a person can be worn down. Similar behaviour could also be played out by the gaslighter in such a way so as to make the victim appear to others as though they were losing their mind.
+A different way that gaslighting could be used to induce fear or intimidate is to harm someone -- for example, sexually abuse a child -- and tell them "if you tell XYZ"- i.e. the police, your parents, etc. -"they won't believe you". This is used against adults and children of both sexes, and is common in everything from spousal abuse to sexual abuse. Gaslighting can also be used by people in positions of power against people in their control, i.e. a worker at a psychiatric ward against a patient in the form of "who do you think they're going to believe, a doctor, or an inmate at a psych ward?", something which was a theme in the book [[One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest]].
+As an example of gaslighting someone with the intent to make them question their own sanity for the purposes of causing them severe emotional distress, and also possibly with the intent to make others question the person's sanity as well, gaslighting is perpetrated by a person known to the gaslightee. For example: an abusive and controlling husband who wants to manipulate his wife into questioning her own sanity and experience the severe emotional distress that results, changes things in the home environment -- he moves her keys from where she knows (or thinks she knows) she left them, after she changes a light bulb he puts the burned-out one back in the socket, etc.; and when his wife says "gee, that's odd, I could swear I remember doing XYZ", he acts genuinely surprised and perhaps even insists that he saw her doing the opposite, etc.; it may sound harmless, but with properly-chosen actions executed over a period of time, a person can be worn down.
+This could also be played out by the gaslighter in such a way so as to make the gaslightee appear to others as though they're "losing their mind", for reasons such as getting a court to declare the gaslightee mentally incompetent and grant custody of his/her estate and finances to the gaslighter, for obvious selfish reasons.
+Another form of gaslighting involves an increasing frequency of systematically withholding factual information from, and/or providing false information to the gaslightee, having the gradual effect of making them anxious, confused, and less able to trust their own memory and perception.
+==Origin of the term==
+The term was coined from the 1940 film [[Gaslight (1940 film)|''Gaslight'']] and its [[Gaslight (1944 film)|1944 remake]] in which changes in gas light levels are experienced several times by the main character. The classic example in the film is the character Gregory using the gas lamps in the attic, causing the rest of the lamps in the house to dim slightly; when Paula comments on the lights' dimming, she is told she is imagining things.  Paula believes herself alone in the house when the dimming occurs, unaware that Gregory has entered the attic from the house next door.  The sinister interpretation of the change in light levels is part of a larger pattern of deception to which the character Paula is subjected.
+==Use in real life==
-An example of gaslighting someone with the intent to frighten or intimidate them would be to break into their home while they were away, and rearrange their furniture while leaving no trace of the break-in. This would make it clear to the victim that they are not secure in their own home, and that the unknown perpetrator can come and go unannounced, but as no evidence is left, the person might come across as "crazy" or "over-reacting" if they tried to report the incident to a friend or to the police. Such tactics were used by the [[Manson Family]] during their "creepy crawler" burglaries, in which nothing was stolen, but furniture in the house was rearranged.
+An example of gaslighting being used in real life was by the [[Manson Family]] during their "creepy crawler" burglaries during which nothing was stolen, but furniture in the house was rearranged.
 ==Cultural references==