Gaslighting

Gaslighting is the manipulation of someone into questioning their perception of reality. The term derives from the 1944 film Gaslight and became popular in the mid-2010s.

Some mental health experts have expressed concern that the term has been used too broadly. In 2022, The Washington Post described it as an example of therapy speak, arguing it had become a buzzword improperly used to describe ordinary disagreements.

Etymology

The term derives from the title of the 1944 film Gaslight. The film was based on the 1938 British play Gas Light by Patrick Hamilton and was a remake of the 1940 British film adaptation, Gaslight. Set among London's elite during the Victorian era, Gas Light and its adaptations portray a seemingly genteel husband using lies and manipulation to isolate his heiress wife and persuade her that she is mentally ill so that he can steal from her. The wife is perturbed when the gaslights in the house periodically dim, as they normally would if a lamp were lit elsewhere in the house, causing the gas pressure to drop; when she asks the servants, they tell her that nobody else is in the house. Unknown to all of them is that the husband is upstairs searching the rooms for jewels.