Ambient Abuse

A form of intimidation or psychological abuse, sometimes called Gaslighting. where false information is presented to the victim, making them doubt their own memory, perception and quite often, their sanity. The classic example of ambient abuse is to very subtly toy with someone's environment in a way that you know they're sure to notice, but then deny knowing anything about it, and to explain that they "must be imagining things" when they challenge these changes. Doing this on a long term and/or methodical basis (as opposed to the occasional practical joke) with the intent to cause distress and harm would be considered ambient abuse. A more psychological definition of ambient abuse is "an increasing frequency of systematically withholding factual information from, and/or providing false information to, the victim - having the gradual effect of making them anxious, confused, and less able to trust their own memory and perception.