agony

"psychic pain"

Boohoo, and pass me that éclair
They cry and eat while millions watch and click. This wacky, weeping site is an Internet phenomenon.
Los Angeles Times, June 15, 2005

Extract:

Yet the site's appeal is rooted in something deeper than the absurd; the effect of the clips is actually visceral. The scenes evoke the kind of unself-conscious, shame-free expressions of psychic pain that few have indulged since childhood. They capture people at their most vulnerable, taking childlike refuge in another primal experience: eating. Yet the food fails to comfort, creating a wacky incongruity. Put simply, it's at once funny and disturbing to watch someone sob uncontrollably, break for a mouthful of éclair and resume sobbing.

http://snipurl.com/fojl