Don’t we all like torturing ourselves a little now and then? The most immediate answer will likely be a firm handshake. But when it comes to a tragedy we witness on our morning commute or news of violence on social media, we suddenly feel compelled by a strong, unexplainable pull to stare at the sight.

Scientists have been investigating why we can’t look away from disasters and some have suggested it’s the preventative mechanism that gives us crucial information about the possible danger. Another study even found that we react to and learn more from negative experiences than we do positive ones.

Given those strange workings of the human psyche, it’s only fair that a subreddit like Make Me Suffer exists on Reddit, and that it’s home to a solid 1 million members. The community’s description keeps it simple, yet harrowingly effective: “If it hurts to look at, post it.” Don’t say we didn’t warn you.

Scroll down for our interview with the amazing moderator team of the Make Me Suffer subreddit, who were happy to share some insights about their intriguing community.

#1 Shelter Workers Organize This Cat’s Birthday Hoping Someone Will Adopt Her, But No One Turns Up

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#2 Sad Suffering

Image credits: Chema626

#3 True Pain

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Bored Panda spoke to the moderators, u/hwhouston517, u/LovelyAGQ, u/DeathAngel11, and u/MattShea of the subreddit. Turns out, the subreddit was created by MattShea, a popular gaming YouTuber with over 2 million subscribers.

“It was originally intended for his YouTube series titled 'Make Me Suffer' for a place for his subscribers to submit posts that would 'hurt' to look at. The subreddit gained thousands of subscribers in the days after its creation, mainly being a place for memes and comics intended to make you disgusted or in shock (but not too extreme),” the mods told us.

The creator of the subreddit, MattShea, recounted: “One day I decided to make a video on an old flash game called 'Duck Life' which for some reason ended up being a very popular video. For obvious reasons, I followed it up with some more videos on the sequels, and made some jokes about how I was only doing it for the viewers. One of them said they were happy to 'make Matt suffer' so one day I decided to invite my viewers to post links and images in my Discord server of things that would 'make me suffer.' After a while, using Discord for the series become impractical, and I wanted to see how things would go if I gave people the opportunity to vote on what they deemed 'sufferworthy' or things they wanted to see me react to.”

#4 Antheraea Polyphemus... Basically A Tarantula With Wings

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#5 Siberian Seasons. Frost & Mosquitoes

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#6 P A I N

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Incredibly, "Witnessing violence and destruction, whether it is in a novel, a movie, on TV or a real life scene playing out in front of us in real time, gives us the opportunity to confront our fears of death, pain, despair, degradation and annihilation while still feeling some level of safety."

This phenomenon is also experienced in other situations, like standing at the edge of the cliff or when looking through the glass at a lion at the zoo. “We watch because we are allowed to ask ourselves ultimate questions with an intensity of emotion that is uncoupled from the true reality of the disaster.”