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Gaslighting
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Gaslighting or gas-lighting is a form of mental abuse in which a victim


is manipulated into doubting their own memory, perception, and sanity.
[1][2] Instances may range from the denial by an abuser that previous
abusive incidents ever occurred, up to the staging of bizarre events by
the abuser with the intention of disorienting the victim.
The term owes its origin to the 1938 play Gas Light and its film
adaptations. The term has been used in clinical and research literature.
[3][4]

Contents

Ingrid Bergman in the 1944 film


Gaslight.

1 Etymology
2 Clinical examples
2.1 Introjection
2.2 Resisting
3 In the media
4 See also
5 References
6 Further reading
7 External links

Etymology
The 1938 stage play Gas Light, known as Angel Street in the United States, and the film adaptations released in
1940 and 1944 motivated the origin of the term because of the systematic psychological manipulation used by
the main character on a victim. The plot concerns a husband who attempts to convince his wife and others that
she is insane by manipulating small elements of their environment, and subsequently insisting that she is
mistaken, remembering things incorrectly, or delusional when she points out these changes. The original title
stems from the dimming of the gas lights in the house that happened when the husband was using the gas lights
in the attic while searching for hidden treasure. The wife accurately notices the dimming lights and discusses the
phenomenon, but the husband insists she just imagined a change in the level of illumination.
The term "gaslighting" has been used colloquially since the 1960s[5] to describe efforts to manipulate someone's
sense of reality. In a 1980 book on child sexual abuse, Florence Rush summarized George Cukor's 1944 film
version of Gas Light, and writes, "even today the word [gaslighting] is used to describe an attempt to destroy
another's perception of reality."[6]

Clinical examples
Sociopaths frequently use gaslighting tactics. Sociopaths consistently transgress social mores, break laws, and
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Gaslighting - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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exploit others, but typically are also charming and convincing liars who consistently deny wrongdoing. Thus,
some who have been victimized by sociopaths may doubt their perceptions.[7]
Some physically abusive spouses may gaslight their partners by flatly denying that they have been violent.[4]
Gaslighting describes a dynamic observed in some cases of marital infidelity: "Therapists may contribute to the
victim's distress through mislabeling the woman's reactions. [...] The gaslighting behaviors of the spouse provide
a recipe for the so-called 'nervous breakdown' for some women [and] suicide in some of the worst situations."[8]
Gaslighting may also occur in parentchild relationships, with either parent, child, or both, lying to each other
and attempting to undermine perceptions.[9] Furthermore, gaslighting has been observed between patients and
staff in inpatient psychiatric facilities.[10]

Introjection
In an influential 1981 article Some Clinical Consequences of Introjection: Gaslighting, Calef and Weinshel
argue that gaslighting involves the projection and introjection of psychic conflicts from the perpetrator to the
victim: "this imposition is based on a very special kind of 'transfer'... of painful and potentially painful mental
conflicts."[11]
The authors explore a variety of reasons why the victims may have "a tendency to incorporate and assimilate
what others externalize and project onto them," and conclude that gaslighting may be "a very complex highly
structured configuration which encompasses contributions from many elements of the psychic apparatus."[11]
Dorpat (1994) describes this as an example of projective identification.[2]

Resisting
With respect to women in particular, Hilde Lindemann argued emphatically that in such cases, the victim's
ability to resist the manipulation depends on "her ability to trust her own judgments."[12] Establishment of
"counterstories" may help the victim reacquire "ordinary levels of free agency."[12]

In the media
British film-maker Adam Curtis has suggested that "nonlinear" or "asymmetric" war (as described by Vladislav
Surkov, political advisor to Vladimir Putin) is a form of gaslighting intended for political control.[13]
A 2016 domestic abuse story line in the British radio soap opera The Archers is considered to involve classic
gaslighting.[14]

See also
Asch conformity experiments
Denial#Denial of fact
Denial and deception
Martha Mitchell effect
Mind control
Mind games
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Mnchausen syndrome by proxy


Plausible deniability
Power and control in abusive relationships
Psychological torture
Psychological warfare
Setting up to fail
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Victim blaming

Zersetzung

References
1. "Oxford Dictionary definition of 'gaslighting' ".
Oxford Dictionaries. Oxford University Press.
Retrieved 20 April 2016.
2. Dorpat, T.L. (1994). "On the double whammy and
gaslighting". Psychoanalysis & Psychotherapy 11 (1):
9196. (subscription required (help)).
3. Dorpat, Theodore L. (1996). Gaslighting, the Double
Whammy, Interrogation, and Other Methods of Covert
Control in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis. Jason
Aronson. ISBN 978-1-56821-828-1. Retrieved
2014-01-06.
4. Jacobson, Neil S.; Gottman, John M. (1998-03-10).
When Men Batter Women: New Insights into Ending
Abusive Relationships. Simon and Schuster.
pp. 129132. ISBN 978-0-684-81447-6. Retrieved
2014-01-06.
5. "gaslight". Oxford English Dictionary (3rd ed.).
Oxford University Press. September
2005. (Subscription or UK public library membership
(http://www.oup.com/oxforddnb/info/freeodnb/libraries/)
required.) 1969 S. C. Plog Changing Perspectives in

Mental Illness 83 It is also popularly believed to be


possible to gaslight a perfectly healthy person into
psychosis by interpreting his own behavior to him as
symptomatic of serious mental illness.
6. Rush, Florence (February 1992). The Best-kept Secret:
Sexual Abuse of Children. Human Services Institute.
p. 81. ISBN 978-0-8306-3907-6.

7. Stout, Martha (2006-03-14). The Sociopath Next


Door. Random House Digital. pp. 9495.
ISBN 978-0-7679-1582-3. Retrieved 2014-01-06.
8. Gass, G.Z.; Nichols, W.C. (1988). "Gaslighting: A
Marital Syndrome". Journal of Contemporary Family
Therapy 10 (1): 316. doi:10.1007/BF00922429.
9. Cawthra, R.; O'Brian, G.; Hassanyeh, F. (April 1987).
" 'Imposed Psychosis': A Case Variant of the Gaslight
Phenomenon". British Journal of Psychiatry 150 (4):
553556. doi:10.1192/bjp.150.4.553. PMID 3664141.
10. Lund, C.A.; Gardiner, A.Q. (1977). "The Gaslight
Phenomenon: An Institutional Variant". British
Journal of Psychiatry 131 (5): 533534.
doi:10.1192/bjp.131.5.533. PMID 588872.
11. Weinshel, Edward M. (January 2003). Wallerstein,
Robert S., ed. Commitment and Compassion in
Psychoanalysis: Selected Papers of Edward M.
Weinshel. Analytic Press. p. 83.
ISBN 978-0-88163-379-5.
12. Nelson, Hilde L. (March 2001). Damaged identities,
narrative repair. Cornell University Press. pp. 3132.
ISBN 978-0-8014-8740-8. Retrieved 2014-01-06.
13. "Oh dear"-ism II - Non-Linear War, Charlie Brooker's
2014 Wipe, 30 December 2014
14. Jay Watts The Archers domestic abuse is classic
gaslighting very real, little understood
(http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/apr
/05/the-archers-domestic-abuse-gaslighting-sanityabusive-relationship?CMP=soc_3156) The Guardian
05 Apr 2016

Further reading
Calef, V.; Weinshel, E.M. (January 1981). "Some Clinical Consequences of Introjection: Gaslighting".
Psychoanal Q 50 (1): 4466. ISSN 0033-2828. OCLC 865290402. PMID 7465707. (subscription required)
Portnow, Kathryn (1996). Dialogues of Doubt: The Psychology of Self-Doubt and Emotional Gaslighting
in Adult Women and Men. Harvard Graduate School of Education. OCLC 36674740. (thesis/dissertation)
(offline resource)
Santoro, Victor (1994-06-30). Gaslighting: How to Drive Your Enemies Crazy. Loompanics Unlimited.
ISBN 978-1-55950-113-2. OCLC 35172282. (offline resource)
Stern, Robin (2007-05-01). The Gaslight Effect: How to Spot and Survive the Hidden Manipulation
Others Use to Control Your Life. Random House Digital. ISBN 978-0-7679-2445-0. Retrieved
2014-01-06. (limited preview available online)

External links
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Gaslighting - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Gaslighting as a Manipulation Tactic: what it is, who does it, and why (http://counsellingresource.com
/features/2011/11/08/gaslighting/) by George K. Simon, Ph.D., article on the topic of gaslighting published
by Counselling Resource on November 8, 2011
Sarah Strudwick (November 16, 2010) Dark Souls - Mind Games, Manipulation and Gaslighting
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwWBHRKFYCA&feature=youtu.be) based on her book Dark
Souls: Healing and Recovering from Toxic Relationships
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gaslighting&oldid=721583856"
Categories: Bullying Deception Mind control Psychological abuse Denialism
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