The Effects of Gaslighting on Betty

The term gaslighting comes from a 1938 play, Gaslight. It was made into a very famous film in 1944 starring Ingrid Bergman. A woman's husband slowly tricks her into believing she is insane. He does this in order to hide his own criminal activities. The purpose is to destabilize a person from the outside in. This is a form of psychological abuse and it's aimed at controlling the way someone sees themselves and sees their reality. They do this through tactics such as denial, lying, and contradiction. When someone is gaswatered, they feel like they have no control.