mindscrew

Meanings

nounmindscrew (plural mindscrews)

slangSomething that destabilizes, confuses, or manipulates a person's mind.
It's in television that Abrams, arguably more than Spielberg, has nudged the medium forward, with "Felicity," then "Alias" and finally the mindscrew of "Lost."
2009 May 12, Jay A. Fernandez, “Abrams making a name for himself, but it's not Steven Spielberg just yet”, in The Hollywood Reporter
Synonyms: brainfuck, headfuck, mindfuck

verbmindscrew (third-person singular simple present mindscrews, present participle mindscrewing, simple past and past participle mindscrewed)

present singular third person mindscrews · participle present mindscrewing · participle past mindscrewed · past mindscrewed

To destabilize, confuse, or manipulate a person's mind.
1 more example
About half the detectives thought his return to the old neighborhood was proof positive that he was out of control; still others believed he had ice water running through his veins, maybe even mindscrewing the cops by rubbing their noses in the fact they couldn't stop him even though they suspected who he was
1997, Howard Swindle, Trespasses: Portraits of a Serial Rapist, Penguin, published 1997, →ISBN