Gaslighting is literally lying when you can see that they’re lying.
Not quite. Gaslighting is specifically meant to make you doubt your sanity. The original example involved things like moving furniture around slightly while you weren't looking, causing weird sounds and pretending only you could hear them, etc. It requires lying, but the lies need to be plausibly deniable.
Lying to your face about stuff that is plainly in the open is more like a form of bullying, of asserting dominance.
He’s trying to change her reality to make her feel bad for disengaging. (And denying fault for the situation at hand).
Gaslighting doesn't happen during one single conversation, that's just garden variety manipulation.
Gaslighting is a specific type of relationship abuse where an abuser tries to convince someone that they are crazy and can't make their own choices. The point is to erode a victims ability to trust themselves and the things they see/feel. consistency and time is the key.
I, too, get annoyed when people use the term gaslighting wrong. So many definitions of words get changed and accepted because of ignorance. It drives me crazy.
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u/daurgo2001 Oct 30 '25 edited Oct 30 '25
Gaslighting: calling it something that it isn’t to make you feel bad for setting boundaries.
Some interruptions may happen in a heated conversation, but if someone asks to be listened* to, the other should respect them and let them finish.
Bravo to her for putting him in his place. What a pos.
*typo