Thoughts on gaslighting and R.D. Laing. Gaslighting is a particularly insidious form of lying aimed at making someone think they are crazy. It is based on a 1944 movie called Gaslight about a man psychologically manipulating his romantic partner. Apparently it happens in many abusive relationships. The plot of the recent psycho-horror film The Lodge (mentioned in my 5/7/2020 blog post) turns on a case of it.
The concept seems in keeping with 20th century Scottish psychiatrist Laing’s radical theories on mental illness. Grossly simplified, he seemed to think mental illnesses like schizophrenia in individuals are often sparked or at least fostered by insane elements in their in their environments, rather than merely biological anomalies in the individuals.
“The paranoiac is the interpretant’s psychotic double” is a line I remember from my literary research (can’t remember the source). When I was a child, one of the nuns at my school said a lot of mental illness originates with lying, prevarication. “What tangled webs…” In that regard, a reference from a contemporary novelist:
“She said that you–”
“I don’t care what she said.” I stand up. “Everyone lies.”
“Hey,” he says softly. “It’s just a code.”
“No. Everyone lies.” I stub the cigarette out.
“It’s just another language you have to learn.”
–Brett Easton Ellis, Imperial Bedrooms