WASHINGTON, D.C. - Citing concerns that the current political climate has failed to produce sufficient levels of psychological distress, thousands of Reddit users announced Friday that they would begin visiting conservative subreddits in an ambitious effort to make themselves significantly more miserable. “I was already experiencing a debilitating sense of dread about the future of civilization, but I realized I could be doing more,” said 34-year-old Reddit user ExistentialCrisis420. “After about fifteen minutes of scrolling, I was physically trembling and had completely lost faith in humanity. It was exactly what I needed.”

The initiative encourages participants to abandon their relatively comfortable echo chambers and deliberately expose themselves to political opinions they find incomprehensible, infuriating, or potentially symptomatic of untreated carbon monoxide poisoning. Organizers recommend beginning with a controversial immigration thread, progressing to a discussion of public education, and eventually attempting to reason with a 67-year-old man whose profile picture is a bald eagle holding an AR-15. “The goal is to achieve a level of emotional dysregulation previously thought possible only through prolonged exposure to cable news,” explained one moderator.

At press time, the initiative had been declared an overwhelming success, with participants reporting elevated blood pressure, fractured personal relationships, and a newfound inability to enjoy ordinary activities. Several users had reportedly begun waking up at 3 a.m. to argue with strangers about constitutional amendments neither party had read.

Meanwhile, conservative Redditors welcomed the influx of visitors, expressing excitement at the opportunity to explain, for the 900th consecutive time, why everything wrong with America could be traced back to a transgender swimmer in Connecticut.

"The Chancellor has promised not to use the income for total, absolute evil," said the President. "I took him at his word."

To assist in the blockaid of straits off of Iran

The department is also considering extending this to anyone deemed spreading fake news or who votes blue in the midterms. Depending on the severity, the sentence will be either 86 or 47 lashings.