self-torment

noun

self-tor·​ment ˌself-ˈtȯr-ˌment 

plural self-torments

: the act or an instance of tormenting oneself especially psychologically

years of self-torment

… he had an unfortunate taste for gambling; and … he always lost thrice where he gained once. That's a mode of self-torment I never was much addicted to.

—Anne Brontë

I have not yet looked at the newspaper. Generally I leave it till I come back tired from my walk; it amuses me then to see what the noisy world is doing, what new self-torments men have discovered …

—Henry Ryecroft

self-tormentor

ˌself-tȯr-ˈmen-tər 

-ˈtȯr-ˌmen-

noun

plural self-tormentors

Of course the last thing the good doctor would wish is to foist all these complexes on anyone. Engagingly and persuasively he coaxes self-tormentors to have mercy on themselves.

—Liesl Schillinger

Word History

First Known Use

1624, in the meaning defined above