Bullying seems to be a concept that has always been around. It comes in all forms, and in varying degrees.
Sometimes, the bullying can be mild and temporary. That doesn't make it okay, but it does make the bullying easier to deal with.
Other times, the bullying is harsh, and can even go too far. Sometimes, that can mean relentless teasing. Othertimes, it can mean that a bully took their torment to a new level, even proceeding into physical violence.
Whatever the case, when bullying goes too far, it sticks with you. Sometimes, you get revenge. Other times, you just deal with it until you can find a solution. Whichever method you choose, you will never forget it.
Curious about how far is too far, Redditor tylerboyzzz asked:
"People of Reddit, when did the bully go to far?"
Deserved Retaliation
"One of my friends had been getting bullied for crying after her mother's death. One day I got sick of it and shoved his head into a door. I know violence shouldn't be used in some situations but I felt like this needed it. He never bullied my friend again and I only got 1 detention."
– NonuMac
"Kids are so dumb, making fun of someone for losing their mom is the stupidest thing ever, good on you."
–TundraTrees0
Possession
"This guy bullied me for years, relentlessly. He saw another guy bullying me one day and lost his mind and beat the guy half to death. It was f**ked up. Not even that he beat the guy, whatever there, but in this ultra weird like "staking his claim" kinda way. Like I was his to bully and no one else. It literally made me fear for my life a bit. I got a restraining order."
– KingGuy420
Protective Brother
"7th grade."
"He took a thick piece of metal wrapped it with electrical tape and hit my friend in the head. He had to get stitches but wouldn’t say out of fear who did it."
"I ratted him out. A day later he jumped me as two of his friends held my arms. Then he stole my bike."
"My mom went to talk to his dad who was drunk and hit on her so she left frustrated."
"A few days later he tried to jump me again while on my bike when I was at the ice cream truck but my older (in high school) brother saw it."
"He literally jumped down three flights of stairs from the 3rd fl of our apartment complex and literally grabbed the back seat of the bike and picked it up as he tried to pedal away. He was freaking out screaming."
– catheterhero
Bullying The Teachers
"My class was terrible. On multiple occasions they had managed to make teachers leave the classroom in tears. For the record; I never participated, I was bullied too in this class."
"One of the worst days; they were really taking it out on this nerdy teacher. Like, this was definitely the worst and the most direct insults they had ever given to a person and he broke surprisingly quick. It turned out that the day before he was diagnosed with testicular cancer..."
– Th3_Accountant
Bullied BY The Teacher
"Bullied by a teacher. I grew up in the 1980's and there was something wrong with my digestive system that doctors here didn't understand at the time. Parents and friends were aware that sometimes I needed a toilet without much warning for either vomit or poo. I could easily dose off sometimes and always had a crampy tummy."
"First week of high school, I needed to go, now. I asked the teacher if I could be excused. She said I was old enough to be able to hold it in. I tried to explain that I needed to go. She was all boo-hoo, the baby needs a nappy, the baby needs burping. Some friends tried to explain to the teacher that if I had to go, I had to go. Teacher said no. I couldn't hold anything in any more and made for the door, the teacher shouted something and I passed out, vomited and sh*t myself."
"From what I remember, dad had the teacher fired. School policy was changed so that if a kid needed a loo break, they got it. Ironically there was an increase of tp related thefts and bathroom vandalism."
"I spent a week in hospital being prodded and poked, and we found out what was wrong."
"I went back to school, some kids pointed and laughed at the kid who sh*t herself in maths but they were quickly silenced by my friends and some kids who I didn't even know."
– ThePhoenixBird2022
Heartbreak
"I had a huge crush on one of the "cool" kids, who was actually a really nice, down to earth guy who was always nice to me. We even played Magic: The Gathering together a few times."
"I overheard my bully tell my crush he was planning to wait until the last day of school and "f- me up real good." Crush grabbed him by the throat and said "Don't you dare touch her!" so of course, the bully had to do something."
"He stole part of my crush's cherished favorite deck and left it in my backpack with a really sweet (fake) note. Then he told my crush he'd seen me steal the cards. His plan worked perfectly, I was looking through the cards when crush walked over. The look of hurt and then anger on his face is still burned into my memory. I gave the cards back, apologized, and tried to defend myself, but he never forgave me and we never spoke again."
– z0mbiegrl
You Showed Her!
"She bullied me for how I looked, would underhandedly called me ugly, and was the root of all my insecurities...A year later I won a major beauty pageant and she blocked me on IG"
"still kinda insecure cuz of her though"
– Careful_Pickle555
That's Catnapping!
"I befriended the problem girl in high school. Thought she just needed a friend. Anyway, she turned on me for whatever reason. Broke into my house while I was away on vacation and stole my cat and every item of clothing I owned. She ended up donating most of my clothes to goodwill, but the stuff she liked she wore to school. I called her out on it. That same day the principal pulled me out of class and said I “need to stop bullying X.” Anyway, she never did get in trouble but I did get my cat back after a few weeks."
– operasinger22
Yes, He Did Fall
"6th grade. He sat behind me in study hall. He, an 8th grader, had been picking on me since the beginning of the year. I told my parents and my dad said next time he messes with me just stand up for myself."
"Next day he flips my ear really hard. I turn around and tell him don’t ever touch me again. I turn back around and then I feel something getting put into my ear. It was a pencil. I jumped up, grabbed my thick as hell math book, and hit him directly in the face. It ended up knocking four of his teeth out and broke his nose."
"The teacher was the gym teacher, who was also an assistant coach on my baseball team. He came over and said with great surprise…..what happened did he fall out of his desk? Needless to say he never messed with me again."
– Kilroy27
Bigger Doesn't Meant Better
"TLDR: Jumping me with two of his friends. I ended up punching the ring leader in the throat."
"I was bullied all throughout school. Inherently easy target, quiet kid with temperament issues. It all boiled to a head when three dudes jumped me in the gym locker room. I came to school the next day covered in welts not wanting to be there, but hell I had all AP courses if I missed one day I missed 5 units of material. Bully was still running his mouth. Get to gym class I see him and I do what any slightly deranged battered person running on zero sleep and a pot of coffee would do. I punched the poor bastard in the throat for it. I had a ten minute rant on how much of a cockhead you have to be in order to be twice my size and still need to bring friends in order to jump me. He never bothered me after that."
– AngelsOfWar01
Keep Them Apart
"This was an incident that occurred back in the eighties that actually made the news and caused a major shift in educating disabled people. Some bean-counting asshole thought it was a great idea to save money by putting juvenile offenders and disabled kids under the same roof for education. That was until a repeat violent offender decided to shove a kid in a wheelchair down a flight of stairs for no other reason than shits'n'giggles. This caused an outrage that disabled children should not have to share a facility with violent offenders and they separated the two. But you always have to keep an eye on the latest government because they'll stick them back together in a heartbeat if they could do it without it making the news."
– CatboyInAMaidOutfit
I'm The Big One Now
"In Elementary School I was always bullied by this one kid, younger me was very naive and passive so I didn't do anything about it. After a while I got sick of it and started working out and taking boxing classes. One day he picked me up by my collar and dropped me in a garbage bin, I got pissed, crawled out of the bin and kicked his ass. His buddies tackled me and then I got suspended, and the bully got away with a slap on the wrist, welcome to the American education system. Anyway, I continued to work out and now I'm in High School, the bully is this scrawny boy who avoids me at all costs, I can't believe I once got bullied by him."
– _xXBeesechurgerXx_
You Reap What You Sow
"Kid wouldn't stop calling me names and spitting on me on the bus when I was 8, so I filled a straw with Tabasco sauce from MRE packs that my dad had got on the bus the next day and he spit on me so i slapped his glasses off, pulled out the straw and spat it all in his eyes. Never saw him again on the bus"
– fqtsplatter
Such Awful Kids
"I've posted this before on similar questions, but I still remember it so vividly. I had a group of about four or five bullies in elementary school who got their kicks by messing with me in the classes we had together. They definitely targeted me because I'm disabled and believed I wouldn't fight back. They'd hide my stuff in the classrooms, take my walker that I had at the time, and throw things at me when teachers weren't looking. I'd know it was them because they'd laugh while or directly after doing it. The final straw came while we were doing a test in English class. I had been pushing back against them in recent days, and I guess they thought I'd give up eventually. They were wrong."
"Anyway, during the test, all of them started throwing chunks of rubber erasers at me, giggling after each volley. I kept telling them to cut it out as best I could, but they'd just start again. Finally, near the time I was almost done with my test, a final volley from the leader of the bullies made me lose it. Now, I also had an unlockable brace on my left leg due to a surgery that I locked when walking and unlocked when sitting so my leg could move. I angrily locked my brace, stood up, and started going around the desks towards the bully leader, yelling that I was going to kill him. Only then did the teacher look up and realize something was happening and got up to stop me before I could throw a punch. It was also the first time I had seen the bully scared. Coincidentally, an SRO (school resource officer) also happened to be walking by the classroom and also stepped into intervene. I told both the teacher and SRO what had been happening while I cried and they warned the bullies against doing it again. Nothing more came of the incident. The bullies started their torment again a few days later, but less often so as to not set me off. Some of the worst years of my life."
– Forestfur147
Want For Nothing
"walking past me"
""you want some soap?""
""nah""
"slaps handful of soap on the back of my head"
– Random_Dragon100
Sounds Torturous
"she dumped my entire desk out in the corner of the class room then had everyone tell me i didn’t deserve anything i earned and i had to pick everything up while they circled around me"
– scyphozoakyphosis
Lucky Hit
"I used to get bullied from when I was 6-8 by this one kid who was much bigger than me."
"When we finished school for the day the teachers would stand us in a line outside of class, we'd then walk in a line to the school gate where our parents would be waiting."
"This was our 2nd day of a new school year and I got in line after class. I didn't even notice that I cut in front of him but he let me know pretty quickly."
"I just tried to ignore him out of fear. He kept pushing me and telling me "You're dead when we get outside""
"The fear and anger bubbled over, I swung around with what felt like the force of a fucking cannon and socked him in the nose. I have no idea how I generated that much force or how I hit him so accurately at 8 years old."
"After a brief silence his nose turned into a tap and he was COVERED in blood. He cried so hard it was insane!"
"My family all knew about it and when I got home my Dad shook my hand and congratulated me for standing up for myself."
"School took no action and he was out for a week with a broken nose. Needless to say the bullying stopped."
"Violence is rarely the answer but that day still makes me warm and fuzzy inside."
– BroAwayAccount91
"Maybe im being simple here, but: every time. Any form of bullying is always too far."
– dragon6layer
Yeah, that's probably true.
Bullying is wrong, but you will never be wrong for standing up for yourself.
We liken too many things to "actual" torture.
We're spoiled and entitled and most of us couldn't handle real torture.
But we are who we are.
So let's discuss all the things that give us massive discomfort.
One Redditorwanted to discuss the things that cause us stress and a touch of ouch.They asked:
"What isn’t torture but feels like it is?"
Torture is everywhere. I hate mosquitoes. They were created by the devil.
Deafening
Over It Reaction GIFGiphy"Faking interest in a conversation you want no part of."
Commercial-Pair-8932
"Trying to have a conversation and the other person giving you nothing."
bigxxgulp
Crawling
"Slow internet."
Top-Lead-670
"AOL dial-up.. the image downloads from the top one line of pixels at a time, you'd get to see the head and shoulders of a naked women, then have to wait 20 minutes to see the boobs because it keeps disconnecting."
accurate_real_trust
"Reading this while laying in a tent in the middle of Yosemite Valley. Lol gets me right in the feels."
StarStuffPizza
Snout Issues
"When you prepare for a sneeze but it won't come out."
Farting_Machine06
"And you try everything, even tickle your snout, When you feel the urge, you know it's all about. Stuck in your no-hoose Lights will guide you home. The sneeze it shakes all your bones. And I will say 'bless you' Guitar solo.'
lasagneisthebest
"I actually found a solution to this for myself, if I press a specific spot on my nose the sneeze comes out, very handy!"
Various-Astronaut373
Power Off
"Having to sit through an interminably long PowerPoint presentation when the presenter is literally just reading off the slides. Email it to me if that’s all you’re going to do because I can read off slides too. Then seeing there’s still like 22 slides to go."
MogadonMandy
"And then they give you printed copies of the 23 slides, I per page."
Agreeable_Text_36
Actual Torture
Frustration No GIF by SpongeBob SquarePantsGiphy"An endometrial biopsy. Legit torture."
ThrowAway05129
"After mine my doctor said that some women liken it to labor pain. I just stared at her because I had no idea it would feel like the worst 30 seconds of my life."
critias12
This is why I hate doctors. No thank you.
Hire Me
Happy Season 5 GIF by The OfficeGiphy"Job interview."
warterminator
"I hate that this is the case. An interview done well should be trying to figure out if both parties are a good fit for each other. I've been lucky to be in good groups with smart managers, and the resulting organization is great because of it."
BuggeredPinata
Nerves
"Anxiety."
Simbiala
"Actually, artificially or intentionally inducing anxiety is indeed torture, and is one of the most prevalent types. The fact that some of us just exist in that space is freaking excruciating some days, and I wish more people understood that."
sg3niner
"Agreed, especially when it’s so debilitating to the point you’re literally trying not to pass out in social situations and have to pretend like you’re not dying."
Academic-Rhubarb79
Miserable
"Having a swollen taste bud on your tongue."
RinaldoBangas
"Oh my gosh, it is seriously insane how ridiculously painful it is for such a tiny bit of your body. That and when you have one of those horrible deep pimples develop right under your nose/on your lip."
JulesLovesYou1993
"Oh god yes! I went through a period of ill health (thank you childcare germs) between Feb-March of this year, culminating in covid, and over the 2 months I had a couple of swollen taste buds at a time, a new one always appearing when another subsided. I was miserable."
Lucyjca
Too Much
"Being in a public place or event for an hour after your social energy runs out. Especially with small children at said event and your family expects you to help keep them entertained and all you want to do is go somewhere quiet on your own stuff away from everyone."
aconstantissue
"My social anxiety mixed with my neurodivergent butt and Mexican genes results with me just silently staring at a centerpiece at my family's table, completely disassociated, shutting out the deafening music blasting on all the speakers at 2 AM."
Idonotknowhowtoname
I Love You
Sad Tears GIF by SpongeBob SquarePantsGiphy"Developing feelings for someone you're close to but it isn't mutual so you have to try to suppress those feelings while continuing to be friends with that person because you don't want to lose them from your life completely."
LapsusAequitas
Quiet Time
"When people living above you stomp around and flush the toilet every hour until 4:00 am and you need to be up at 5:00 am."
TripleTrish
"One of the things I love about my building is that 10pm-6am is 'quiet time,' and it is enforced. If you're being disturbed by your neighbors and call the management office number, they will tell them to knock it off. I've complained several times about the cunts upstairs, but I still sleep with earplugs because I don't want to be a total *itch."
ThrowAway05129
Discomfort
"Waiting room chairs."
colobirdy85
"The most brutally uncomfortable waiting room chairs I've ever encountered were at a physical therapist's office. If you didn't need their services already, you damn sure would after sitting on those."
FattierBrisket
Sounds of Horror
"Listening to someone else's terrible music."
Pilowpants
"Ugh. I recently worked with a girl who blasted her favorite music on speakers at our desk. I don't even know what the genre is called. I can best describe it as... the Rent soundtrack performed by one guy with an acoustic/electric guitar and a whiney voice? Who can't actually sing so he just yells a little into the microphone. And a whole lot of pretentiousness from the fans who look down on me for not liking the hipster-esque vibe."
__M-E-O-W__
Nightmares
Ricki Lake Teeth GIF by NettaGiphy"The dentist drill."
bjwizard
"I’m a dental assistant and we always encourage patients to wear headphones because the sounds really freak them out. We give out earplugs if they forget their headphones."
paulrasmussen27
Gotta Go!
"Waiting for someone to get out of the bathroom when you really need to go."
llcucf80
"I have bladder control problems. If the line to the women's is too long, I'm going to the men's room. I'm not having an accident because some ho is trying to stuff a stolen t-shirt in her purse."
BricksInTheWall1991
Where to Begin?
"Doing taxes. Waiting for your crush to call you after you give them your number. Waiting for final bell in high school. Monday status meetings. Filling out job applications in slightly different ways for dozens of employers. Being forced to work/live/travel with highly toxic people."
FreshwaterViking
Life's Beginning
"The first two months of having a baby."
relentlessvisions
"I think sleep deprivation is a legit torture technique. And someone told me once that navy seals have to sit in a room with a tape of a crying infant for hours at a time to try and break them down mentally. So I think you may be onto something."
Kaclassen
"And I get to experience it for free at home because of my insomnia."
MetricJester
Mariah Everywhere
mariah carey christmas GIF by jecamartinezGiphy"Having to listen to All I want for Christmas is you every 2 songs as an employee on a mall."
PanosTheSoreLoser
Life itself is torture. I'm now convinced.
I know we're a culture full of over the top whiners.
We love to go on and on about all the things that bother us.
And all of the life impediments that stand in the way of our happiness.
But we need to dial it down a notch.
There is a difference between actual bodily harm and an inconvenience.
Redditorseesnawsnappywanted to mull over what aspects of life make us feel like actual pain but maybe we're exaggerating. They asked:
"What isn't torture but feels like it?"
I hated waiting tables. You have no idea the actual torture, ok not actual, but misery one must endure.
Dial Up
Spongebob Squarepants Internet GIFGiphy"Slow internet."
sev45day
"Slow internet : pretty salty"
"Connected but no internet : a n g r y"
Out of the Way!
"Traffic when you’re already late."
EdibleTurds
"Being stuck in traffic, and having a poop locked and loaded in the chamber. Stupid drivers wrecking all the time and having me prairie doggin' for an extra hour."
pineappledaddy
"Worst part for me is I don't have to poop until Im stuck in the car i get the urge before I leave and I try to go and it doesn't happen but when I'm the car without a bathroom within 50 miles it's like I've taken a laxative it's so terrible."
bknox1789
Extensions...
"Food delivery being over the estimated time."
leswhinin
"Or when the time keeps getting extended further and further and further and you have a 6 AM flight the next morning and then you check and it turns out the restaurant closed 2.5 hours ago but Doordash still says that a Dasher was waiting for an order and you have to give up and have sleep for dinner."
THROWRA302376
Midday Blues
"Having a 230 appointment the whole day is ruined."
LikelyGeoduck85
"I had one of those today! It was the only appt available this week, and fell right in the middle of an 8 hour shift. So I left and took my cat to the vet, brought her home, and went back to work. Honestly, not nearly as bad as if it was scheduled on an off day. Lucky to have a boss that understands pet needs, too."
verycoolfarts
If I hear that song again... I can't even think about it.
Swollen Glands
Sore Throat Radang GIF by K Health | Digital Primary CareGiphy"I caught strep for the first time in my early twenties when working at a daycare/preschool, and it actually was torture. My throat was so swollen it felt like I was swallowing glass and every time I tried to swallow I couldn't really get all my saliva to go down so I was pretty sure I was just going to drown in my own spit."
Timely-Tea3099
It's Lost
"When you lose 5g and it kicks you back down to 4 and it won’t load a webpage even though 2 years ago it would’ve had it up in 2 seconds."
EggsAndBeerKegs
"Long story short with physics, it’s frequency vs power. Then providers think they need to upgrade some parts but not others. There’s a reason, but it’s a stupid reason."
hoosier268
"This makes me furious. How in the hell is having only 4g as slow as when we didn't have 4g at all years ago? Ridiculous."
FainOnFire
MOVE IT!!
"Being on one of those slow-moving people movers and stuck behind someone who is just standing there instead of walking."
bassistmuzikman
"I yelled 'get out of the way' this morning to a guy that was walking slow when a car was behind him and I need to get to where the car was coming from."
coolcrushkilla
Eternity
"Waiting at the doctor's office. (USA). They have the audacity to charge you a fee for being late and calling it a 'no-show' but damned if I've ever been to a 2pm appointment that actually began earlier than 2:30-2:45."
sexapotamus
"45 minutes is ok, in France we don't pay for doctors but it's possible to wait 2 or 3h after the original time of appointment."
Rabanaaash
"I remember having regular appointments for physical therapy that never started on time. The magazines in the waiting room were crap, so I started bringing a really long novel with me."
Annihilated_Matter
Forever
Comedy Central Advertising GIF by South ParkGiphy"Watching 2 unskippable 30 second ads, it's only a minute but it feels like an eternity."
Formal_Activity5040
Well there are worse things in life. We do whine a lot.
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Life can be a harrowing experience. Sadly, we have to be careful everyday of people. Some true evil walks among us and hopefully most of us will never have to be on the rage end of certain lost souls or soulless bags of flesh.
Redditor u/TheShadiestPillow wanted to ask survivors of darkness if they could share some tough experiences by asking.... [Serious] People who have been tortured, what happened, what was your experience like and what impact did it have on your life?
1.
I was never tortured but I used to work as a SWAT medic and we had a case where there was a child about 15 years old that had been chained to their bed and tortured for about 5 years. The parents were very violent and barricaded themselves in the house which is why SWAT was called in. I was the 4th man in a 6 man entry team and when we got into that room none of us could fathom the evil that had been done to that child.
Those guys were some of the hardest people I have ever known and they all just recoiled when they saw that kid chained to his bed lying in filth. He had been beaten, starved, drugged, cut, and I don't know what else. The entry team leader went and threw up outside later. I was one of the few guys on the team that didn't have kids so it was a little bit easier for me. I started to administer care to the victim and after that everything is just image after image of pain seared into my mind.
The kid made it 2 years into foster care and then committed suicide. The team never talked about it again. We thought we were tough and stuff but torturing kids is a whole different level.
And if anyone is wondering, the parents tried to shoot us on the way in, so we smoked them. Only time I have had zero remorse having to shoot someone. PaleGazelle
2.
Not torture in the classic sense of being tied up and beaten. But in a way, enduring years of chemo and radiation as a young child was bad enough.
You have those things (embarrassing and painful) inflicted over and over on yourself and at the same time you have to watch it happen to your friends - almost all of whom died in agonizing ways. You can't learn properly because you can't go to school very much. And then the lasting damage continues to hurt you for the rest of your life - both psychological and physical.
In the end, you're left stripped of everything. Dunno what to do or say about it. You just try and pretend it never happened and it doesn't hurt anymore. TheRainbowsEnd
3.
I grew up in a very volatile household - mother was bipolar that refused treatment, my older sister was a hellish child that would literally have fist fights with my mom.
Through the summer when my parents worked, we stayed home by ourselves (roughly 10, sister 15). She called her boyfriend over since no one would know and they'd lock me in a small closet (mobile home) for hours at a time. I was told that if I ever told my parents about anything, they'd kill my pets and I loved animals, so that terrified me.
I've never told anyone about that except my current boyfriend. I think I repressed it for a long time, but was/am uncomfortable with signs of affected or being overly touched... it's like a light switched flipped and I get overly upset. Also not a fan of small places or feeling confined.
My mom was constantly angry at the littlest things, so I grew up always apologizing for things that weren't my fault, but trying to appease everyone. She never thought about the things she said; calling me a fat, ugly whore (lost virginity at 19) that would never amount up to anything, no man would ever love me.
The emotional toll was severe. I've struggled with depression, anxiety, self-loathing, and completely devoid of confidence. At 35, I'm just now starting to find myself and love who I've become despite all the BS.
My mother died eight years ago and I was her primary care giver in her last 6 months. I dealt with the guilt of wanting her dead so many times in my life because of the horrible things she did and said to me, but watching cancer destroy her is nothing I'd wish on anyone. It broke me for many more years.
So yeah, life's been fun. Ms_Madam_Meow
4.
Like most people here, we shouldn't have had to go through a lot of it, my most hated was the "submission" game where my old boy would fold me in half, twist my arms or legs or trap me underneath covers so I couldn't breathe with the aim for me to tap out or say submit, but if I DID submit he would hurt me that much more so I learnt all giving up done was cos more pain. I'm 40 years old with a fear of authority and speaking up for myself but I gotta say. I can fight like a crazy person with no fear of pain. If my Dad wanted to raise a right S.O.B he succeeded but see if I ever saw ANYONE raise their hands to my sons, I'll kill them and no crap I will drop them where they stand no one should go through what I did. Scotchrain
5.
Don't want to get into specifics. The nastiest filth on the planet was imported to the country unfortunately. Was subjected to drawn out torture by the nasty filth (which will hopefully be erased at some point). It gave me severe ptsd, anxiety issues, took years off of my life, a huge life loss on many levels, vast resulting financial losses etc. Perhaps the biggest loss is a personality contortion, going from being kind and loving to being hateful and angry. There is very real evil out there, make no mistake. acutepresence
6.
A therapist decided the best way to cure my needle phobia was with "exposures". Under her guidance my parents bought some medical lance things (the things you use to prick your finger to test your blood), and would routinely make me stab myself with them.
I remember one time scream crying on the bed with both of my parents in the room while they tried to make me do it. I had to pee so badly that I though I was going to wet the bed in front of them, but they wouldn't let me go until I did it. They just kept saying "Just do it quick. It'll be over and then you can go to the bathroom." I was so terrified I kept trying to slowly push it into my finger instead of just pricking it. I finally did, and the let me go to the bathroom. That was the worst panic attack i had over it, but making me stab myself happened many other times.
I now suffer a very sever and crippling phobia. I can no longer get flu shots or update my vaccines. I couldn't get the birth control shot that would help my endometriosis. I will attack people or huddle up rocking back and forth hyperventilating in corners when doctors bring them into the room because they didn't take my phobia seriously. When I had to have some surgeries (many do to the Endo mentioned above), special accommodations had to be made to put me under, or to get IVs in. And even then, it always ends in tears, hyperventilating, and sometimes passing out.
It was truly traumatic, and looking back on it, probably torture. They were mentally abusive, and though not usually physically, I suppose this would count. I still have nightmares where people come after me with forks made of needles, or where people attack me with a needle of drugs to kill me. I have to close my eyes if I see one on TV.
I still haven't gotten over it, and I don't think I ever will. I don't trust therapists, which sucks because I need one for my anxiety, depression, and possibly PTSD. But how can I? Zero_Minus_One
7.
Idk if this counts, but between the ages of approximately 2-10 my dad would spend his nights drunkenly torturing my younger brother and I. He'd do stuff like pin us against the wall by our throat, smash his face into ours and scream into it; leave the room then come charging back in with no warning, grab one of us and start beating; throw heavy objects like frying pans really hard at us; drag us out of bed by the leg if we fell asleep during a beating session etc. There's a lot more but those are the most typical events I can recall.
He'd be screaming all kinds of verbal abuse the whole time. He'd chase and hunt us down if we tried to hide, even if we got out of the house and tried to run away. He'd also make my brother and I fight each other, like actually fight. Full force hitting and we'd be pulled out and beaten by him if we refused to cooperate, so we'd obey and beat each other since it was less painful than a beating from a grown man.
My mom had had split custody and took us on weekends since our dad's house was zoned for our school. Since my dad was very sneaky about it and left as little evidence as possible, my mom never knew the extent of the trauma. She knew he was on the mean side, but we never told her about how bad it was in fear that we'd have to go back and it would be worse. If we had marks or were bleeding when she picked us up, he'd give her a story about how we got into a fight with neighborhood kids or one of us fell out of a tree. We'd always agree to the story out of fear.
On top of severe anxiety, I also have very handicapped social skills and aggression triggers. I don't act on them (unless I'm asleep, but I'm unconscious and unable to control it at that point) but I can't begin to explain the amount of rage that fills my soul when I am triggered. If someone taps my shoulder, pokes me, knocks on my head, boops my nose, puts their face right up to mine or throws something at me (especially if it hits my head) I literally fantasize about clawing their face off of their skull. If I'm asleep and someone starts tapping or grabbing me to wake me up, I'll wake up enough to swing at them until they leave me alone.
I'm also very easily startled, I enjoy haunted houses and scary movies and stuff because I'm expecting the thrill, but if someone pops out and scares me as a joke it will jump start my heart and give me an adrenaline rush large enough to beat a grown man's ass to the ground in 3 seconds. Even sudden loud noises do it for me, especially metallic clangs/crashes. It physically hurts me; my chest hurts, my heart races, I lose all focus of reality for a minute and get tunnel vision for a fight or flight response. SlytherinAhri
8.
not really torture but when i had a pretty messed up childhood and when i was about 11 or 12 i found pro-ana communities online who made me think that if i developed anorexia i'd finally be loved and stop being a 'bad person' (which i believed i was). i tried to give myself an eating disorder by acting exactly like someone who had one, researching and watching films then copying what they did etc. obviously you cannot give yourself a mental illness though and i never developed disordered thoughts because it doesn't work that way. kept forcing the treatment on me.
anyway i was taken to therapy and i kept it up for a while but being there kind of shocked me out of it so i admitted what i was doing to them and was so relieved and ready to accept help for the issues i had. except they didn't believe me. i was forced through anorexia treatment despite not having stuff wrong with me and the more i tried to explain the situation the more i was told i was lying, trying to avoid treatment etc. was weighed twice a week, couldn't make friends because i was constantly supervised eating so couldn't really go out and see people etc.
my life from 12-15 was completely taken up by this and there was no escape. i have a high metabolism so i physically couldn't gain the weight they wanted me to no matter what i did, was accused of lying and the issues i actually did have just got worse and worse as they were ignored. i think somewhere along the line the psychs realized they got it wrong but it was kind of too late to admit that so they just kept forcing the treatment on me.
was eventually sent inpatient and one of the psychs there would compare me to the other girls, say something to me then claim she never said that, call me names and tell i was a bad person, a liar etc etc, encourage me to take PRN medication when i was panicked then make fun of me when i took it, told my parents and the other staff (the only people i ever got to see) that if i tried to speak about my "delusion" of being falsely diagnose, i was to be punished. she withheld an autism assessment i was supposed to have and told my parents i had been assessed when i hadn't.
eventually got out of there and was finally allowed to leave services at 15, am now about to turn 17 and my parents deny this ever happened, would probably believe them if i didn't know someone else it also happened to. i am now severely depressed, have a phobia of medical professionals and haven't seen a doctor since then, and developed binge eating disorder as i was so used to being forced to eat ungodly amounts of food that i don't remember what it was like to not do that. have no education or skills as i was never at school due to constantly being kept home to eat or at therapy. i just lie in bed all day. i'm finally free but have no idea what to do with myself since i never learned anything during my vital developmental years. not as bad as people on here but felt like torture to young me. still does. just horrible. tsukimishin
9.
I've read quite a few of these and too many of them start with "not real torture but" and then go on to describe very real torture.
It's not because it's done by your boyfriend or parents that it's not torture. Not all torture is done by the government. My heart is with all of you. Guilty_Coconut
10.
My neighbor was tortured to death almost two years ago. They pushed in an air conditioner to wait for him to get home, they tied him with duct tape, put a laundry bag over his head, and cut him with broken bottles and kitchen knives. They then stole his stuff and left him to die.
I can only guess that the lesson that he would have learned is the lesson that I surely did learn: Don't ever let someone tie you up. Make them kill you trying. Once you are bound they can do much worse than if they killed you while you were free.
Edited to Add: Link here -> https://www.lowellsun.com/ci_32038689/second-man-arrested-lowell-killing. Sort of doxxed myself but whatever. BigBobby2016
11.
Some back story, My dad was in the military, I have two sisters, one older and a twin. Our babysitter was "a good christian" lady. Anyways, my twin and I be would separated by our babysitter and she would lock us in different areas of the house. Such as a hallway closet, basement, or furnace room. She also made sure we couldn't turn on the lights by holding her hand over the switch or taping it down. She would then proceed to say that she was calling monsters to come get me and make noises like they were actually in the room/closet.
Of course being five and not being able to see well in the dark I believed her. She would then leave and go off to do the same thing to my sister leaving me in the dark alone. To keep from telling our parents she would threaten to kill us and even put a knife to my sister's throat one day. This happened five days a week for about six months because our dad was TBY in Korea, and our mom worked full time so no one was home to watch us until our older sister got home from school. (She got out 2 hrs. later than us cuz she was in high school and did afterschool activities).
Eventually, after our dad returned home we told our parents because we never wanted to be babysat by her again but they didn't believe us saying that she wouldn't do those things since she was a good christian. Our older sister did believe us, thank goodness, and quite her school activities to watch us after that. To this day, I'm scared of dark places, very claustrophobic, and have trust issues. wolfgirl2243
12.
Well, I was not tortured in the most strict sense of the word, like a prisoner would be.
But I grew up with a higly abusive, very violent step father. His beatings were way out of proportion to a kid. He would punch me and throw me around until I peed myself and couldn't barely move, and on a daily basis for any reason at all.
It really leaves a mark on you, the psychological impact is huge. I lived there from ages 13 to 17 when I finally was old enough to run away.
For years I had repeated dreams about being killed in many ways. So I never got proper rest during the night, that made me have issues to be productive during the day, it can lead to depression, anxiety, PTSD... It's really a sh!t scenario, cuz you escape but in a way are still not free.
Anyways, I hope that's not too depressing, it was a long time ago, I'm 30 years old now, things changed for better, I got the help I needed, I only have like some insomnia. I managed to don't become a violent person neither a toxic partner to my SO. So...Maybe I talked too much, sorry hahaha. EmotionalMeltdown
13.
I grew up with an abusive brother who used to duct tape me and beat me and literally harass me all day. I used to tell my mother and she did nothing pretty much stop crying. It made me a lot less trusting of people. I don't expect help from anyone. EarlyBirdTheNightOwl
14.
I went through emotional abuse at the hands of narc friends and people who I thought were with me due to my kind nature—I was wrong.
This led me to lose my trust in people, develop social anxiety and I now have a few friends who I can trust.
I agree with the not expecting help from others—in today's society that's the reason why homeless people are homeless—the government doesn't do anything major, and people walking by on the streets are not going to help them for free.
In this society, people make friends to gain a connection to further themselves in one facet of their life. Artistic-Result
15.
Joe vs. Elan.School <----read
The webcomic above is a completely insane, and true, story about being psychologically and physically tortured by a "troubled-teen" cult in Maine. Everyone should read it. It is extremely eye-opening on multiple levels.
It would be dismissed as unbelievable if not for the crazy amount of proof that this place actually existed.
Believe me, clear your schedule if you start reading this. It is very addictive and puts you into that head-space of going through a very messed up and unique type of torture that apparently happened to thousands of American teenagers. dwightornado
16.
This one was run out of Georgia and was not for teens but for adults and was fronted as a drug/alcohol rehabilitation house. It's an absolute mind-screw. I ran away 10 years ago and I'm just now getting help. I was held against my will, psychologically abused, my family was financially out a lot of money. It works because the people who go are 'troubled' so family doesn't believe the crazy stories they tell. LauraB6789
17.
Only one person apart from those involved know about this.
Forgive my spelling.
When I was 10 my friend had a sleep over for his birthday, 3 of us in the party. All was going fantastic until my friend found his eldest brother's stash, including a Co2 pistol, booze and marijuana. My friends brothers were little psychopaths who could do no wrong in his mothers or fathers eyes. Anyway my friend took the stash to his mum and she instantly grounded the eldest brother. The sleepover continued without any problems.
A few months pass and I'm invited again to the same house by the same friend for another sleepover. His brothers were also allowed a friend each to stay, the brothers (13 and 16) were left in charge because their parents were staying away for a night. As soon the parents left the torture began. We were blind folded and we were subjected to lashings, force fed vinegar, knives held against our throats and beaten with phone books.
Just when I thought it was over I overheard one of them say "I'm coming up, they're good pills" my 10 year old brain didn't know what they were talking about. What followed was more cruelty then a mock execution. They tied a noose around my neck and stood me on a balcony, I peed my pants and started to cry, then they started laughing. They pulled me down and said "we are going to kill you but not yet".
I was then put in stress positions while they raved and poured beer over me and slapped me about, knives to my throat again.
Then we're both dragged to their parents allotment, their dad had a chopping block and axe there. Then began mock execution 2. My head was the chopping block and I heard them counting down from 3 then chop right next to me then laughter again.
They got bored eventually and left us in a room bound and gagged, I remember getting that airplane sleep feeling for an hour so, only to be awoken by the youngest brother, he untied us and told us "that's what you get for being little grasses, breath a word of this and we will kill you".
That was it over, they never touched me again.
I'm 32 now and I don't feel particularly scarred by what happened but I do think about every day. Newtons_Cradle87
18.
Lived in an abusive household growing up and worst abuse came from my mom. If something goes wrong it was always my fault. Worse thing that ever happened was when she had someone stay over with her 2 kids who never got along with me and one night they blamed me for destroying a paper plane that they made which in truth they were mad that the ones I've made always looked good and they wanted to get me in trouble. They're mom didn't like what was going on and that caused my mom to get mad at me and took me into my room tied me to my bed post and kept hitting me with a belt until i admit that i did what the kids said.
I don't remember when but i passed out and was in the emergency room being treated for my wounds. To this day i still have a scarred lip, no feeling near my left eye, a removed rib, and half of my face is drooped. Things like this got me diagnosed with borderline personality disorder which I've been trying to overcome. Its the memories that will stick with you, haunting you in the darkest part of your mind. odagled86
19.
A guy i used to be friends with owed some dealer (also his cousin) £15000. No one had seen him for weeks, turns out the kidnapped him, tied him up in a old warehouse, they beat him with poles, pulled ALL of his nails off, snapped all his fingers, burnt him everywhere among many many other things.
Yeah he survived, he definitely wasn't the same after that. He was always on edge, never really left the house and gained loads of weight but never told the police what happened. His cousin moved country shortly after and 'found God' then come back a few years later, he volunteers at homeless shelters and runs a anti-violence charity apparently. crazypepsicat
The way we as humans treat others can often be horrific. It can be especially awful when we are causing pain with a purpose. We need someone to tell a secret or pay for a crime. But one awful act joined with another does not make anything right. And torture is just wrong no matter what.
Redditor u/Normie_trash_69 wanted to discuss the truth about the worst of humanity by asking..... What is the most horrific torture device or execution method you've ever seen, fictional or nonfictional?
Dark Tool.
The Syrian Ministry of the Interior used a tool called the "Black Slave" that was basically a chair where the torture victim would sit on while nude. In the space under the cushion were large very hot skewers that would enter the victims anus and keep going it reached the intestines. They would do a push/pull method until the victim collapsed under the stress or spoke. ChairForces
Sarcophagus....
GiphyThis is completely fictional. But I think in the mummy or some movie like that some immortal dude got locked in a sarcophagus with scarab beetles that would eat him forever. JBatjj
Anguished.
The pear of anguish looks pretty damn awful.
"The pear consisted of a metal body (usually pear-shaped) divided into spoon-like segments that could be operated by turning a screw.
This contraption was originally meant to be inserted to one's mouth to crank the key piece to expand the metallic petals. The quadruple or triple petals expand outward, forcing the victim's inner mouth capacity to stretch beyond its limits." Yeah yeah, I know it was used for other orifices, but mouth was the original intention.
Spanish Donkey was another good one. _ripzayn
The Basics.
Tying someone up, keeping them fed and hydrated and injecting heroin into them for months until one day you decide to just leave them to deal with dehydration, starvation and withdrawals. I_FAP_TO_TURKEYS
Colorless....
Not the most screwed up but it's definitely a weird one.
White Torture is a form of sensory deprivation where the imprisoned is kept in a white room, made to wear white clothes, as are all the guards and they're even served white food on white plates. The lights are kept on at all times, no one was allowed to speak, and their shoes are padded to muffle sound.
The lack of color is apparently very mentally damaging. To quote Iranian journalist, Ebrahim Nabavi:
It is terrible. The loneliness never leaves you, long after you are "free." LittleRedLamps
Chief O'Brien
In an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Chief O'Brien had 20 years of prison time implanted in his memories. He never actually went to the prison, but he thought he did. It messed him up. He tried to kill himself over it.
The writers of Star Trek really had it out for Chief O'Brien, poor guy. BagelDesk
Mickey Rat.
GiphyRat in a hotbox chained to a mans chest. BrokenMatchet
Dies too fast. The rat is placed on the condemned's stomach, so the rats eat his guts first trying to flee the heat. Spaiduhz
Too Real.
I once witnessed a father with his 3 year old daughter watching the baby shark video on his phone, once it ended she would scream until he restarted the video, she watched that video about 10 times in a row and the look on his face was that of pure depression, so I'm going to go with that. pops992pops992
Passed Out Agony...
GiphyThis old guy I used to work with would tell stories about torture in Vietnam, and this one stuck with me:
They'd tie the captive to a chair with his hands behind his back and bring in a hooker. She would pull his pants down and dance, touch, whatever was necessary to get him erect.
Then they would take a thin bamboo reed and slide it down his urethra.
And they'd bend his penis in the middle really quick so that it snapped off inside. Monsieur_Pounce
Judas.
The Judas cradle
You are stripped down and tied up by your and and legs. You are the suspended from the ceiling and dropped down butt first one a large metal spike. Most people bleed to death. thatoneguywhohasadog
The Wood...
GiphyIt would be hard to beat impaling, dying slowly over days with a wooden pole through your body. Vlad Tepes impaled kids too.
ThunderBloodRaven
Keelhauling .....
Keelhauling - the victim is dragged along the underside of a ship so that the barnacles will cut and shred them whilst simultaneously drowning them.
MrsCrackpot
Fun fact. You were sometimes meant to be able to survive it - if you were hauled from side to side it was possibly survivable (I mean infection and whatnot made it a gamble). You could also be hauled from bow to stern. Less survivable.
sabre252
Lingchi.....
Lingchi, an ancient form of torture/execution from China in which the condemned is slowly and systematically cut into pieces through the use of literally hundreds/thousands of knives.
JimmyTheOtherCat
The Groin....
Upside down sawing from groin all the way down. Blood stays in your head so you stay conscious. So awful.
Scmethodist
The horrors....
GiphyThe one where they put you in a metal bull and then heat it with a fire so that when you cook your screams can be heard and then when you start to boil your water escapes in steam out of its nose it pretty horrific.
dreadpiraterobert0
The Coop Prison....
There was a TIL on this a while back on the Thailand chicken coop prison, where you'd be under the coop in the cell and the chicken's droppings would fall on you with no escape.
Everyone commenting said that'd be the grossest smell and torturous.
llcucf80
Too Brutal....
One of the most brutal I ever heard of was that of Robert-Francois Damien. Damien attempted to assassinate King Louis XV in 1757 so he was sentenced to death. Thousands of people showed up to witness the execution... First, the hand he attempted to stab the king with was dipped in ethanol and then lit on fire. Then they took red hot metal pincers and ripped away his calves, quads, pecs, biceps, and triceps. They then poured molten metal into the gaping wounds where his muscles once were. After that, that tied each limb to a horse and made them ride in opposite directions. When it was clear that they weren't pulling hard enough to rip him apart, the soldiers beat Damien's joints with hammers to speed up the process. The entire ordeal lasted over 4 hours.
Bryan15012
"The Jaunt."
While not explicitly for torture, there is a pretty horrific method in a short story called "The Jaunt." Some time in the future, humanity invents a method of instant teleportation. The thing is you need to be knocked out by anesthesia prior to using it. The story goes into the history of the machine where testing on animals and, later on, humans revealed that though the process of teleportation is outwardly instant, the conscious mind of the teleportee experiences billions of years in a white void, alone but for the company of their own thoughts, unable to move, unable to die.
One scientist shoves his wife, awake, into a machine and closes off the end point. He is convicted of murder because, although she is technically still alive, she's screaming somewhere in the ether, alone, for all of eternity.
bumholez
Bamboo honeymoon.....
Bamboo honeymoon is what I call it. I'm sure they had another name
But essentially you get strapped in a case over bamboo and left there. They will come to feed you and put honey on your body, face and make sure you stay alive, so you feel every inch of your body eaten by animals and insects, while the bamboo is growing into your rear end.
It sometimes took up to 40 days for prisoners to die, when I remember correctly. And this is nonfictional.
I cant come up with anything worse, really.
Tkoile_fuzz
Poop...
GiphyScaphism....
They leave you in a tub of water, constantly feed you so that you keep on pooping. You end up covered in your own poop until your body starts getting devoured by the parasites which appear within your poop.
SlayzorHunter