There are definitely terrible people in the world, and just stressed out faculty that take it out on their students, but they are the exception. This sub is full of horror stories and grad students looking for support because it's a community of people who know what they're going through, and is also separate from their cohort-mates, or friends in grad school.

This is just my opinion, and I'm using my personal experience here, so take it with a grain of salt... A lot of what you see here is indicative of a lack of maturity and experience. I entered my master's program when I was 20 (11 years ago), and was totally unprepared. It was a tough time, I thought the world was against me, and nobody was interested in seeing me graduate. Looking back, I partied too hard, had no concept of what was expected of me in grad school, and really had no business being there. I was smart, but that didn't mean I was ready. I survived, got a job, and worked in a research environment for 7 years before going back for my PhD. My program now is tough, they expect a lot from us - it's highly ranked for what it's worth. But it's fun. I'm older, I know how to navigate the process, how to handle professional relationships, I understand the expectations. I get it now. Shit, they pay me to develop professionally, get all these skills, and have a PhD in the end. My previous grad school experience and 7 years of real work gave me the perspective to appreciate it all. Again - this is my opinion, but I think a lot of these horror stories come from a lack of maturity, experience, or in other words, perspective. Even some where the prof is made out to be a villain I think are likely misconstrued - some mentoring styles are tough as nails, and appear like pure evil, some are pure evil, some are well-intentioned, just terribly executed, and some are just a result of people being people (holding grudges, getting annoyed with your personality etc.).