Gaslighting is the deliberate deception of others, especially for their benefit, and attempts to cause others to doubt themselves through psychological manipulation. It consists of various manipulations that a person uses to disrupt the mental balance of the target person and make him dependent on himself. The origin of concept comes from the play Gaslighting written by British playwright Patrick Hamilton in 1938 and was first used here. The main characters of the game are a couple named Jack and Bella. Every evening, Jack dims the kerosene lamp secretly from Bella, and Bella finds that every evening the kerosene lamp gives less light. However, Jack tells Bella that the kerosene lamp gives the same light and he is wrong. As this situation continues, Bella begins to doubt her perceptions and becomes more dependent on Jack day by day. Based on this scenario in the game, the concept of Gaslighting is used today for attempts to destabilize and manipulate the target relationship side, thus causing them to doubt themselves. The concept does not have a Turkish equivalent. For this reason, it has passed into our language as English.
The concept was named Word of the Year by Merriam-Webster, America's oldest dictionary publisher, for its 1740 percent increase in word searches in 2022. Merriam-Webster stated that Gaslighting, chosen as the word of the year 2022, is one of the most frequently searched English words in today's world where misinformation, fake content, conspiracy theories, deep fake technology, and trolls on social media accounts exist.
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