People like to stand out from the crowd. Be unique and act differently. And it’s well and fine when you’re a teenager still building your personality and finding what you like and don’t like. But this struggle to not be like others to get attention gets stale really quickly when you’re an adult. You realize that the ‘not like other people’ phase is just that – a phase, and it seems pretty cringy in real life.

The I’m The Main Character community gives a pretty healthy dose of shaming to those guilty of constantly wanting to be the center of attention. It’s a subreddit with over 1.3 million members who like to roast self-absorbed people. I mean, if they were foolish enough to post their main character syndrome behavior, they need to be able to take the ridicule, right?

Bored Panda also reached out to Alexander Danvers, Ph.D., a social psychologist and Director of Treatment Outcomes at Sierra Tucson, who researches emotions and social interactions.

We asked him how professionals would describe 'Main Character Syndrome,' why some people act this way, and whether we all have some of that main character energy in us. After all, we're all the main characters of our lives, aren't we?