Have you ever had a day so bad that you just want to let everyone know about it? “Life’s shit,” you feel like declaring to a stranger on the street. “Why is everything so hard?” you want to wail at a friend over a glass of Whispering Angel.

But it’s a cold December night and you’re home alone with nothing but Netflix’s Wednesday for comfort. So what do you do? You open up Instagram/Twitter/Facebook and start spilling your guts…

Social media’s newfound encouragement for everything #unfiltered and authentic (hello, BeReal) is providing even more fertile ground for us to share our woes, big or small.

It’s no surprise, then, that in recent years, psychologists have started to delve deeper into the concept known as ‘sadfishing’. Coined by writer Rebecca Reid, it’s described as the act of posting emotional or dramatic personal content to gain sympathy or attention online.

Sadfishing: the science behind why people overshare on the internet