Gaslight
To knowingly present false information to someone, making them doubt their own observations, memory, and self-trust.
Origin
From Patrick Hamilton’s 1938 play Gas Light, later adapted into a 1944 film starring Ingrid Bergman. A husband systematically manipulates his wife into doubting her own perceptions — dimming the gas lights while insisting nothing has changed. The term entered psychology and popular culture to describe a specific form of emotional abuse: making someone question their own reality.
Everyday Use
Framing is one of those very under-appreciated concepts in our everyday lives — it can influence how we approach every situation, without us even realizing it. We are capable of gaslighting ourselves in convincing ourselves of a reality that may not in fact be correct, whether it's in thinking that people don't appreciate us, that we aren't productive enough, etc. It's important to recognize that often the best examples of gaslighting are what we do to ourselves.