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What is gaslighting?
The name comes from a 1938 play, Gaslight, where a husband dims the lamps, then says his wife imagined it. Today gaslighting usually means a pattern of manipulation that makes someone doubt their own memory or perception. Tactics can include denying events, brushing feelings off, or rewriting what was said. One disagreement, or a faulty memory, isn't gaslighting on its own. If it keeps happening, talking to someone you trust, or a support service, can help. In the US, the National Domestic Violence Hotline offers support by phone or chat, day or night. Next: What is love bombing?
Sources: APA Dictionary of Psychology, National Domestic Violence Hotline, Adair 2025 (Trauma, Violence, & Abuse), Sweet 2019 (American Sociological Review).
About this film
A 38-second widescreen (16:9) explainer film, made in the Quiet American realism style, published on 6 November 2026.
A brass gas lamp dims in quiet Hopper rooms: where the word comes from, what it means today, and what helps.
The style: Quiet American realism. Hard morning light moving slowly across quiet rooms and streets.
Scene by scene
- 0:00What is gaslighting? A lamp dims under the title.
- 0:03The 1938 play Gaslight: lamps dimmed, then denied.
- 0:11A pattern that makes someone doubt memory and perception.
- 0:17Tactics: denying, brushing off, rewriting.
- 0:22One disagreement or faulty memory isn't gaslighting alone.
- 0:29Talking to someone you trust, or a support service, can help.
- 0:32Next: What is love bombing?
Transcript
What is gaslighting? The name comes from a play. In Gaslight, from 1938, a husband dims the lamps, then says his wife imagined it. Today it usually means a pattern of manipulation that makes someone doubt their own memory or perception. Tactics can include denying events, brushing feelings off, or rewriting what was said.
One disagreement, or a faulty memory, isn't gaslighting on its own. If it keeps happening, talking to someone you trust, or a support service, can help. Next: What is love bombing? Follow for more, or make your own with explain.film.
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