RENO, Nevada– Catholics Ronnie and Eden Jefferson look on the outside to be a happy couple: until you dig a little deeper. According to local sources, the relationship is plagued by repeated gaslighting over Eden’s willingness to be intimate.
Multiple anonymous reports tipped us off to the unhealthy dynamic, which all agreed normally impacts Ronnie much more than Eden. And after Ronnie himself reached out to The Daily Inquisition, he told us he’s finally ready to tell his story.
“Just the other day, she starts frantically unbuttoning her pants and running upstairs,” Ronnie said as an example. “So of course I follow her up, only for her to tell me she didn’t want to do it!”
“Not only did she say she wasn’t interested anymore. She said she was never interested, and never told me she was interested, and just had to use the bathroom,” Ronnie lamented. “But I know what I saw!”
Dr. Clem Foreman, Head of Psychology at Deep Springs College, says Ronnie’s case is a classic example of gaslighting in a marriage.
“While such behavior like quickly or frequently changing your mind may be tiresome, simply changing one’s mind does not itself qualify as ‘gaslighting,’” he told us. “The problem comes when Eden goes from saying ‘I don’t want to anymore’ to ‘I never told you I wanted to,’ which is so clearly false.”
“I mean, she unbuttoned her pants for goodness sake!”
Gaslighting is an abusive manipulation tactic that denies the other person’s sanity or perception. The manipulator may deny someone’s feelings, memories, or, as in Eden’s case, lie about past words or events in order to make their victim doubt their own rationality.
For victims like Ronnie, the effects can be devastating. After that incident, Ronnie increasingly became more anxious, quiet, and withdrawn, and that very night was reduced to playing Call of Duty for 18 straight hours.
It was during that gaming session that Ronnie met Dr. Foreman, who he said gave him the courage to come forward. But many are not so lucky.
“This really is a quiet epidemic, and unfortunately happens almost daily for many, many couples,” Dr. Forester explained.
“Partners will claim they were just doing simple tasks like taking a shower, eating an ice cream cone or even just changing their socks, and that they never did anything to suggest they were in the mood. By subsequently denying the plain truth, they can make their spouse question their entire perception of reality.”
For people trapped in such a cycle, Dr. Forester said it can be very challenging to keep afloat.
“The important thing is to realize you are right. Your spouse really did, in their words or actions, ask you to engage in intimacy. No matter what they claim after the fact, or how they’re feeling now, they can’t alter the past or the reality of the situation.”
He offered a final word of encouragement: “You can find help. There are hundreds of people like you. Good people, smart people. People like Ronnie. You are good–no matter how messed up your spouse may be.”
The Daily Inquisition reached out to Eden via email for comment, asking how she could do such a thing. She simply responded, “You people are insane!” Which means, unfortunately, she’s not even above gaslighting us.
Talk about caught red handed!
