Modern psychology indicates that people who unnecessarily criticise others are often deeply unhappy. Such individuals may have low self esteem or perhaps may even be depressed. When people are sad or insecure, often the world becomes a very dark place and they see their enemy everywhere. It is at this time they start to 'act out'.Putting down others can also be considered a form of 'projection', in that the aggressor projects onto others what they really feel about themselves. When an insecure person calls someone a 'gimp', really this is a direct reflection of how this person feels about themselves. Accordingly, this person will insist on insulting the other first as a means of escaping these negative, insecure feelings. The more unkind they are, the more distance the aggressor then creates between the victim, resulting in the need to work harder to gain the victim's attention in future online situations. Much like the attention-seeking behaviour of a naughty little child, the aggressor will then try to re-establish this connection via inappropriate means, as highlighted in the above forum post.