As somebody who has trauma I understand what you mean by finding comfort in chaos over time. I have recently noticed a huge positive shift in my life and mental health and i have found myself so uncomfortable in it because it is so unusual to me. It is shocking, I didn’t realise things were that bad
When things gets hard and you don't know what you're supposed to feel or be Traumacore kinda tells you But then you're moving on and you start noticing how terrifying those things are lmao It's kinda sad
this core always felt like a double-edged sword. for me, in middle school through high school I was obsessed with collecting these images, many that reflected trauma I experienced. Its an art that captures the emotions of the few morsels of childhood many can remember. Remembering the aesthetic of childhood- bright colors, toys, birthday parties, playgrounds, but the abuse that seeps in between memories; creating a mental Collage of innocence but something rotten as well. in retrospect, this cope filters the abuse with a childlike aesthetic, to hold onto the colorful side of childhood many of us never could fully enjoy without being hurt or neglected. you approached this respectfully, as it is not all great, creating a mental pattern of framing the abuse as “aesthetic” or “cute”, is not healthy, but a coping mechanism many now have become dependent on or misappropriate it. thank you so much for not shaming us who still use this or have, healing is a journey, with many coping mechanisms, relapses,etc. once again, i appreciate your effort dearly.
You described it perfectly. I don't participate in traumacore, but the few images I've come across have evoked those mixed feelings of childhood nostalgia laced with extreme discomfort and pain. It's too triggering for me personally, but I do have a weird sense of respect for the artists who manage to capture those feelings so directly. I hope they all come through whatever they're going through...it's hell, but it can get better.
Traumacore is made to be disturbing. For me personally, I went through trauma as a child and traumacore helps me cope and understand that others know how I feel. It makes me feel less alone, ironically even though it has a liminal aesthetic. It reminds me that people understand me and my emotions. It can be harmful and peaceful, it depends on how you use it. Some people use traumacore to sit in their trauma and not cope, only to remember it and not try to move on. However, others like myself use it to cope and understand that others know how we feel. It can be comforting to those who went through trauma. It isn’t an ‘aesthetic’, it is a form of editing and artwork that utilizes other aesthetics to make its own genre of photo editing, like liminal photography.
@@billblaski9523 It’s a piece of art/photographic editing usually people with trauma make to vent out their frustrations and intrusive thoughts, though other people are sometimes comforted by it as well because it shows that they aren’t alone in how they feel.
as someone who fortunately never went through any traumas as a child i think ppl should allowed to do whatever tf they want as long as it's not hurting anyone anything. including traumacore, but i also do believe trauma core need to be extremely regulated as in not putting them in public/mainstream places on the internet therefore should make something like a community of TC people only so people could post their arts just there without people that has traumas but never know what Trauma Core is before, to be "traumatized again" if you know what i mean. edit: some confusing sentences
@@homeland1128 Absolutely, having traumacore with specific tags or blogs or warnings should happen. It can hurt people who can’t handle that type of content, or are uncomfortable by it.
Youth therapist here, also with a focus on trauma work - thank you for this video, and for consulting with an actual professional in the field! I agree that “traumacore” art walks a fine line between just sitting in your trauma and actually working through it.
Art is always subjective. Sometimes positive, sometimes negative. Some of the most popular artists and authors in the world created Horror, Stephen King, Junji Ito etc. Sometimes they have issues, sometimes they don't. Or maybe they do all have issues, and some are just hiding it better than others. One way or another though, they use their art for self expression. If it helps or not also depends all on the individual.
I’m 25, so a tad (yes, JUST A TAD 😂) outside of your usual clientele age, but I’ve noticed that vent art is usually only useful to me after I’ve gotten the emotions out and am on the other side of the moment; I can look back and examine what I was feeling and why. Why did I use so much orange? Why did I use this brush? Why did I draw a bird? So on and so forth. Conversely, I may just need to get a feeling out and throw the piece away later.
I feel like a lot of good traumacore images are really good at conveying feelings and ideas that are difficult to identify and express otherwise. It's a bit like visual poetry. I do however feel that it could kind of get saturated with low-effort content that doesn't really "mean" anything other than "ooh look here's a creepy thing juxtaposed with a cute thing!" without a point. Also agree that sometimes there's content that could be potentially triggering (how often have I been scrolling past mostly surreal images and then suddenly there's a photo of slashed wrists). I think the content can be created and enjoyed by others in ways that respect each others' limits. I understand the concern that it may lead to sort of "wallowing" in trauma but I see it more as channeling negative feelings into something positive.
I've been a tumblr user for about a decade, but I specifically began my "aesthetic blog" account in around late 2015/early 2016. My main "aesthetic" (because we all get lumped into a label eventually if your blog gets big enough) is Menhera/Yami Kawaii (sickly cute), which stems from a Japanese art and fashion movement that began around the same time I started my blog, combining traditional kawaii themes with physical and mental health related vent art. Naturally, as soon as "traumacore" started becoming a term, we started getting lumped together (some of the Menhera blogs that were more focused on info/news from the Japanese scene even directly compared it a few times). When it comes to vent art, there is a very fine line between expressing you emotions and romanticization you need to be careful of. It can be helpful when it comes to finding community and processing things, as I only started to unpack some of my own trauma involving a certain "child friendly" chat site after seeing traumacore posts related to it. You just don't wanna let yourself get lost in it for too long unless you want to start spiraling down. Helping those around you (and yourself) aim towards recovery is one of the biggest pillars on the Menhera community, and a lot of us do mix things up with also posting advice and positive affirmations so we don't wallow in the darkness too long, and we encourage each other to seek proper help if able to. Yami Kawaii is often paired with it's more light-hearted cousin Yume Kawaii (dreamy cute), because you always need to balance out the darkness with the light.
Thank God! I've already binged all your videos, I am extremely happy to have new work from you! You are one of my favorite UA-camr now even tho it was only last month when I found you!
I think what a lot of people don't understand about traumacore is the communicative effects of it. People with trauma are often in environments where they aren't allowed to talk about it. They are forced to pretend like everything is okay, even when it's not, and having a way to express where they actually are mentally can be incredibly helpful for feeling validation in the anger and pain trauma brings, and help process and move on from it. I'd equate it to journaling, I'll write out in a rush all the awful thoughts in my head and by the time I'm done I'm not carrying all that weight anymore. I got it out, I verbalized it, took some control over it, was able to process it in the act of putting it to pen/screen. It's absolutely not for everyone, but there is something genuinely comforting to those who suffer from the longstanding effects of trauma to know that their voice can be heard, and that they aren't completely alone. A lot of non-traumatized individuals I see harp on it being the person "dwelling on it and wallowing in misery", when often it's the person clawing intrusive thoughts and feelings out of their own head. They aren't creating the feelings through art, they're creating the art to express feelings and thoughts that were already there. Art should comfort the disturbed, and disturb the comfortable, as the old adage goes.
Thank you. The feelings are there regardless. Creating art around it is exactly like journaling and since I’m a more visual person it has always been easier for me to process my emotions that way. Not pulling that stuff out and dealing with it just creates anger, or the feeling like you’re vibrating in an uncomfortable way.
I agree. I personally don't have a problem with traumacore as someone who is currently healing from the past. I read these now, and only feel validated in how I felt in the past. But I don't feel that gut wrenching feeling like I used to when I'd just wallow in my sadness. I think it's something that can be used as expression, but some people do definitely let it consume them. Like all things, traumacore should be viewed/made in moderation, otherwise you can get consumed in the gloom. I understand why it's frowned upon, but I don't think it's all bad. If it helps the artist liberate themselves, like journaling, so be it. Art isn't always meant to be comfortable.
i went through a lot of trauma as a child, and dwelling into these communities has always left a really rough taste in my mouth. i tried dwelling into these communities to help myself feel more less alone and to feel more accepted through what i had been through, yet every time i dwelled into these communities, everyone would trigger one another and no one would ever (really) cope with their trauma. im not saying this has happened to everyone within the traumacore community, but a few spaces i joined as a young teen, it just appeared that everyone was.. almost showing off their trauma in a way with these pieces of art. everyones art pieces seemed to get more and more grotesque as i delved deeper, in a way to almost "one up" one another. i saw it happen repeatedly - as other children and young teens would make more and more disturbing art pieces to almost "show off" their trauma, which not only retriggered people, but it just became somewhat of a competition. the art was never censored, it was never trigger warned and it was never spoken about in a therapeutic way, the children within the community who i spoke to at the time, (i must have been 14/15), only ever just.. one upped each other. they would make these art pieces - "yeah well I went through this" - "but I went through that" sort of thing. it may have just been that i fell into the *wrong* side of traumacore, but the community didnt help me at all. it just seemed like a place of competition. traumacore can be helpful for so many people and i can understand why, as for a little while it did help me before i delved deeper into the community, but with how.. "edgy" some kids are nowadays, traumacore and these other types of "cores" that deal with the same types of topics sometimes only appear to be competition and a way for young people to just live in edgy spaces without fully getting the help they need. another group like this would be twitter and its "shtwt/edtwt" spaces - they encourage each other. shtwt and edtwt are a WHOLE other topic, but if you read this i apologize for repeating myself/rambling lol, i just had a LOT to talk about within this topic :)
‘Traumacore’ is triggering for me at times but mostly physically painful to look at. The way I see it - if it helps, it helps. The only thing I don’t like is when folks with or without trauma use it as an “aesthetic” or try to turn trauma into something it’s not.
exactly. as someone who is apart of that community, it makes me genuinely angry and upset when people treat it like it's just an aesthetic. it's so much more than that. of course, it's not for everyone, but it can be very comforting for some, and to take something so raw and vulnerable and use it an aesthetic is messed up.
@@thefiliriveradoctors make money on you being injured. Chefs make money on you being hungry. Builders make money on you being homeless. Thieves make money based on you being successful. This point is meaningless.
@thefilirivera everything that can be sold fills a need somewhere, where you would otherwise feel LESS good if you didn't have that good, service, or idea. Unless you're a masochist, of course.
as someone w ptsd i love traumacore. creativity is one of my only healthy ways of coping and it combines all of my favorite mediums. ty for this video mav
For me personally not even terrifying, but at the very least near incomprehensible. Wish Maverick would choose another way of masking voices... iirc there were other videos with interview parts, where voices were distorted and it was the exact same problem :/
1:55 “Traumacore is made up of memoirs that do not want to be forgotten. Memoirs that crave to be resolved.” You mean...memories? Just the regular word memories? You know, the word that means things in your memory? Instead of the word that means written and published personal accounts of someone’s whole life, or parts of their life, like an autobiography? I think you just mean memories.
Very interesting, as someone who works with children who have suffered a range of things from neglect and abuse to CSA I never knew this had a name as it’s something I’ve seen before
As someone with a lot of trauma i find a lot of comfort in "traumacore" images as lot of my traumatizing experiences came from when i was a child. I dont remember a lot of my childhood but i remember a lot of the thoughts i had. And trauma core has represented that. While i recognize that it is a dangerous line it is also nice to feel recognized in these images. I stay away from the communities though; i know if i indulge myself in a community it would make me worse mentally. Its like taking something in doses
My friend was a therapist for dis advantaged children. Her life and her health affected her outside of the therapy. She was brave up to the end she went away from us. The loss still brings me to tears. The Traumacore stuff only opens old wounds.
i always wanted to make traumacore as a form for art therapy bc i used to go to therapist as kid and all i did was art therapy. not anymore but I have the need to express myself somehow, i can’t draw for shit and internet doesn’t like ppl with actual mental health issues. that’s why i never started.
the amount of awareness, openness and empathy you have Mav is astounding. Not only did you do so much work but you really put your own ignorance (not in the negative connotation) aside and seeked not just the perspective of say, an artist, but a fully licensed professional. This speaks volume and thank you for being so kind and respectful to the community. Much love.
I remember being 8 years old and a child predator took advantage of my kind nature. It was thankfully nothing that went far but it was damaging enough for my brain to vault it behind lock and key until the stress of secondary school brought it out and leave me terrified and scared in the middle of the night. Traumacore is something that i cant help but relate to, it's hard to describe but finding the calm in chaos is definitely one way to put it.
Trauma core COULD be a healing method (art therapy is a thing!), but having it be a sort of "fandom" is a really bad idea. Its passed around a group of already very fragile people, and its constantly triggering each other. They are ripping a wound open over and over.
Yep. They put themselves in a group that talks a big deal about healing & moving on from trauma, but all they do is dwell on & amplify each other's trauma. I've seen it too much, and it's always depressing to witness.
Yeah, you put it perfectly! It doesn't seem like the sort of thing that should have a fandom, but at the same time, it feels sort of... inevitable, the way the internet is.
I have some severe PTSD. I believe it can be helpful, in the way that you know that other people who experienced something terrible survived through it and that you can and will survive too. Now I cant say that I like the art visually, but I can definitely see how it could help as well and make you feel less alone in dealing with having survived horrible things and the after effects of such an event. I agree with her that its a matter of perspective, I had never viewed these disturbing images as anything but "I survived" when it is obviously art, but I can absolutely see how a different perspective could instead re-traumatize a person and would be counter productive to their healing too. Everything is a different and unique individual who experiences things differently. I personally prefer more positive ways of processing trauma and to lift others up in a more positive way.
As somebody who has accessed a LOT of mental health help and has been in online mental illness/healing spaces irl and online for well over a decade, I feel like, as the practices and techniques of Art Therapy allow more room for digital art, this art form might align with genuine therapy more organically
As a teen I was in what I'd say was a predecessor / ugly cousin of traumacore (many might disagree) with none of the subtlety and a fraction of the artistry... graphic self-harm pictures, was also mainly on Tumblr. Don't get me wrong, it was toxic as all hell but still, I did it for many years bcs as twisted as it is, it was therapeutic for me. I guess I mainly wanted someone to acknowledge my suffering
That was my niche as a teenager and I honestly can't describe how much damage those communities cause. I still have scars and medical issues from making gif sets depicting my own self destruction. It's just a bad vibe.
Definitely toxic but those communities are also where I learned a lot of harm reduction from that helped me treat my own and others’ wounds, self harm and otherwise.
I remember walking down the river one day and I found a piece of a ceramic looks like it belong to a ladle or something. It a cute innocent picture of a goose and a teddy bear on it. Seeing it Broken thrown out and washed up in the mud made me incredibly depressed in ways I didn’t know how to describe but thanks to your video I finally have words for what I was feeling
As someone who listens yo audio, this video was hilarious, he was talking about trauma core, and then interviewed Ghazghiul Consumer of souls and then the outro played
You never fail to find topics that are unique, new, and down right relevant. I never knew traumacore was a thing but it perfectly fits. Shoutout to the professional you interviewed, very cool!
as a person with cptsd, traumacore always triggered me - i tried to understand that it was helpful for people with trauma, but i couldnt help but feel uneased, panicked and disgustingly nauseated whenever i came across them. the music combined with the images makes me have (or at least it used to) episodes. I personally never found how rhese could be comforting and i despised that it almost romanticized ropics like child abuse, sa, sh and eds. I understand what it symbolizes, but i do not appreciate the way the internet has twisted and malformed its concept.
idk if the images you showed are a part of traumacore (as i am not a heavy internet user or interested in internet aesthetics, etc.) but i found them immensely comforting. i do follow quite a few instagram accounts that post similar type photos/art, as i relate to much of the content & style, and i've even posted on my own ig a handful of images i've created in similar fashion - but again i really don't know much about internet culture to the degree that many do lol.
the voice changer is overdone, makes the entire interview incredibly and needlessly grating >inb4 some numbnuts says "that's the point" to which i say -- an hero with utmost speed.
I've been through a lot of shit when I was younger so I definitely get why people create Traumacore Art, for me to speak about my trauma has somewhat lightened the hold it had over me, and for these people to create art that shows their traumas unapolagetically, I imagine it could have helped them move on somewhat also. The negative reaction to it from general audiences is expected, it's extremely brash and it is definitely triggering (that goes for myself also, my CPTSD was popping off seeing some of this art). Isn't art meant to evoke emotion tho? To me it just makes this stuff more interesting in how it could trigger such a reaction, it serves it's purpose imo. Some people just tagging "#art" and nothing else with Traumacore Art is kinda fucked tho considering the general characteristics of Traumacore, but tbh maybe more people need to see this stuff, abuse happens so much more than the general population realise and for victims it definitely can feel like nobody wants to listen at times (when bottling it up just makes it even worse) so maybe they felt this was a way to get people to pay attention when so many others haven't had the time for it? Who knows, maybe some people are just larping for the shock value of it, probably the case knowing how chronically online people crave attention so much.
There's a rough balance here. You could wallow in trauma your whole life and feel pathetic, but that doesn't feel nice. Neither does bottling it up and being told to get over or forget it.
I have experienced trauma and I feel part of viewing traumacore is this visceral catharsis. On the other hand I know that my this feeling is part of my brain's way of not letting go. It's really hard to let go
i see traumacore as a form of vent art and expression art that can be really personal. sometimes it can help to just.. make something visual, instead of speaking about trauma when you aren’t ready for that yet. i find it both comforting and triggering. sometimes, i feel like i need to be triggered and upset in order to realise what it is that is hurting me. that sounds stupid, but seriously, half of the time i don’t remember the awful things that make me feel bad. sometimes i need to be told what is wrong for me to know. i think so long as you know what you are getting into, it is okay. traumacore artwork should be an outlet you use on the side, not your primary therapy.
To me traumacore is like seeing your thoughts. Imagine it. You're in a place, a familiar one. Maybe one you walk past every day or frequently that to say. But now that place has implemented itself to your head. As a dreamy outcome it looks a bit off due your memory and it's way to soften things. Now imagine you can see your thoughts as words in there too. What did you think of that time or some words/questions that bothers you. That's what I would describe traumacore as.
I don't consider the stuff that I make to be traumacore but it's definitely within the same vein and I've never understood why people who make this type of content wouldn't make people aware of what they are making. I mentioned in my description and verbally at the beginning of every single video I make let the things I talk about revolve around trauma, and that I fully understand if people don't want to have anything to do with it and I don't expect to have a lot of viewers because the stuff I talked about is extremely unpleasant. I feel like people forget that whenever you don't give that contacts in that warning before you dump all of this shit on to people that you are essentially traumatizing or re-traumatizing complete strangers who wanted nothing to do with it. Like the internet is a fair place to trauma dump in my opinion, just give people a warning before they stumble upon it. Also I apologize if there are any typos in this I am disabled and use voice typing which is not always accurate.
Back when I was first processing my trauma a few years ago, Traumacore was a huge thing I stumbled upon. I felt so seen and heard seeing other people’s art and I remember having an entire pinterest board made just to save the images. But while it made me feel connected with others, it also made me feel even worse in a way. The images were always there when i opened social media. It was constantly on the forefront of my mind causing me to basically be constantly thinking about my trauma. Those Traumacore images combined with EMDR Therapy gave me the worst 6-8 months of my life as my trauma was all I thought about and my emotions were heightened. I think it is something that can be good if used very sparingly. The “aesthetic” of traumacore being a constant in art is definitely a good and bad. I believe most people find comfort in it because they’re not ready to move on from their trauma and thus seeing images that remind them or re-traumatize them brings them a sense of comfort. I believe it’s probably one of the least effect forms of self help based off of my experience, but what helps helps and if it doesn’t, then other options are there.
I had always had a difficulty? with handling or talking/sharing emotions or something thats happened to me in my past. Thank you for makimg me feel safer about how I've felt as a whole and my "coping" mechanism. :')
As someone with issues who have had psychologists and psychiatrists growing up with them wanting to do exposure therapy to get over my traumas... lets just say I trust a person less when they use the word "triggering" or suggesting to avoid traumas because systematic desensitization DOES help.
I consume trauma core art so i can atleast give my perspective. She is right its only a self help tool. It can be helpful but only so much. That being said. I personally use trauma core music (which is usually calming and comforting tones) to comfort me while i bring up and process trauma i have. The sounds make me feel like im in a safe place where nothing can hurt me, so i can think of these things and know if i am hurt by them i am still able to be safe with the trauma core music. The tones and stuff serve as a sort of "washing" of the bad stuff. Kind of like when you're in your room when your anxious and in survival mode but then you focus on the pitter patter of the storms rain. It's hypnotic consistency allows you to dissociate to it. That's what those songs tend to do for me.
man i respect you so much. You handle sensitive topics so well and never speak on topics you’re not educated enough about. thank you for being great and for all the amazing content ❤
I really respect that you interviewed a professional, that shows the level of quality of your work. I majored in Psych with a work in art psychology, and I absolutely agree with "Leah". IMO (and yeah, everything I'm going to say from now on is my opinion, as a professional) trauma art in general is not art therapy. Art therapy involves specific techniques both for the creation of the art pieces themselves, and the interpretation of the art. The piece itself is not the most important therapeutic component, it's the subsequent interpretation and the integration of the interpretation to the therapy as a whole. You work very closely with the client. It's, like Leah said, a type of self help, buy imo in the same way a herbal sleeping aid helps with chronic insomnia. I don't think it's wrong or entirely useless, since it can be very cathartic for the artist and catharsis is extremely important. But catharsis isn't healing. It simply releases accumulated tensions and emotions. After the release, there is still a long, long way to go. I also agree with what you said about how it victimizes the unconsenting viewer. But it can also revictimize the artist. Over and over again they go through the emotions and memories of their traumatic experience, instead of elaborating them. They stay in the catharsis phase, harming themselves every single time they make another piece. In contrast, in real art therapy, you can see the art change as the patient heals.
I have a complicated relationship with traumacore. It was something I engaged with in my early 20s, as I was dealing with the brunt of my PTSD. Eventually, I was forced to stop by an alter (a product of my own childhood trauma). I did slowly get better after I stopped engaging. I understand it helps some feel seen. I understand that. But I do feel that at some point its just emotional self harm, that if you're in deep you might not see that you're keeping yourself there. Re-traumatising yourself over n over
Its odd to know some of my hidden away art has a term. Trauma core. And its sad to see how some people use it to harm others. As per usual humanity has ways to make you sigh and despair
I wonder if in the future there is a voice changer that is not as “messy” sounding? I usually listen to your videos without watching and I just cannot understand what the specialist is saying with that specific voice filter on.
same, it’s really hard to decipher! that said i’m so grateful mav captioned the whole conversation - it’s such an interesting topic that even though i couldn’t hear it was a great read
It is definitely a ..strange feeling, as someone who has undergone trauma, to see traumacore. It's nostalgic. It's sad but it's home. It's where I came from. It's the uneasiness and sadness I grew up in. It's a human thing to feel nostalgic. Even if the home is bad, even if the family is bad, even if the events are bad. It was home. And my heart will always be there. It's less romanticizing, more looking back. Reflection, and understanding. The art doesn't have to say anything. Yet it says everything. It speaks for itself. And while it is important and well understood that you should never, ever go back to that horrible place, traumacore gives you a safe way to look at it. To observe it, to sit with it, to let your nervous system work through what it needs to work through. With art just vague enough that it can mean something to everyone. Without outright touching on the thing precisely, you can get close to it. Almost close enough to hug who you used to be and tell them it will be okay.
Trauma is all i experience in my conscious perception of the world. Relief is impossible, no such thing exists for the chronically suicidal. This is more than a cope, it’s our only way of feeling heard
I wished you would have interviewed one of the artists instead, or a traumatized person that can give you an insight of why they feel drawn to those images and communties.
I want to thank you for taking the time to take a nuanced approach to Traumacore, and especially for reaching out to a professional to get their view on it. Your videos are always wonderfully put together but I especially appreciate your work and effort on this one, and the way you did your best to see all sides.
I can see where people come at saying you don't like it but trauma court is basically like seeing exactly how you feel out there and not just keeping it to yourself.
Ah I used to be into traumacore mostly cause it made me feel less alone seeing people with the same experiences, plus I used to have a hard time recognizing and vocalizing my emotions, and this put everything I felt on one image, so yeah... I stopped looking at it once I was doing better mentally cause IT IS very triggering :/ I also remember there eas discourse cause some users tagged it "hello kitty" and such, and sanrio being such a comforting thing for many people, it is pretty sad and bad to find traumacore in the middle of something cute you enjoy and makes you feel better y'know?
i remember being obsessed with it when i wasn’t mentally stable enough/in the right headspace to interact with it in a healthy way. i remember going through a pipeline of these images and it just made me so depressed and the next day i told my therapist i wanted to go back to the mental hospital. i was NOT ok at the time but thank god i never went back. nowadays i’m in a much better place and am able to consume this type of media without it making me feel worse, in fact it usually helps me work through my traumas instead of making them worse.
I was in the traumacore community for a bit and even made some of my own images with original photographs i took in places i spent my time in as a child. Venting about the stuff you've been through, and probably can't remember correctly will end up in you not making sense. I found comfort in the community for that reason. The lack of knowing yet the full understanding provided comfort. However, it does end up being a loop of (like the therapist said) bringing it up and processing it, but you don't move on. You stay stuck on it, esspecially if you're an artist, and you try to recreate the image again and again until it's all you have in your gallery and you are constantly reminded of this thing you're supposed to move on from. The act of it is good, its a vent post in a way. But the act turns into an aesthetic which leads to people into traumatizing others.
Vent art is fine in my opinion, because it exposes life for the inherently negative experience it is. Although, you have to philosophically be positioned to view life as an inherently harmful thing so that your beliefs are consistent with your art. Basically, people who make 'traumacore' art for popularity and attention-seeking or as a trend can detract from the actual value of traumacore- which is its role as vent art and giving voice to those who are voiceless. It can be seen as a revolt against those who keep the horrible nature of our reality under wraps, against those that pretend their moral values have always been good, whilst their actions prove otherwise. The same kind of reactionary art or revolt was seen in Dadaism and Surrealism against the horrors of World Wars I/II. What I mean is people shouldn't be prevented from making vent art, and the consumption or viewing of them lies in the responsibility of the viewer. It shouldn't be inherently wrong to view life as something horrible, although a lot of people will try and 'fix' you for thinking this way, including health professionals. This is why it doesn't really interest me whether traumacore is truly harmful vs. healing/therapy to its artists- it just is- it's a deluge or a vomiting up of life's inherent horridness. Sometimes there is no solution to the problem, sometimes we just get tired trying. Sometimes healing is impossible and by understanding you're in a hopeless situation, one can come to peace with it. I'm not against criticizing traumacore art, I'm against silencing it.
as someone into menhera / yami kawaii this was a really interesting watch. been into it for about a decade now, and i've sort of thought about the implications, but always just settled on 'it works for me'. not the best comparison to traumacore because it is actually pretty nuanced, but can definitely imagine a similar video with what i'm into. it has it's place, but it's definitely not for the general audience. it works really well as an outlet for some of us though. the general rule imo is to just not push it onto other people. with my own art, it actually has done me a lot of good for processing complicated feelings. though i try to make much more happy art as of late and keep that sort of stuff more to myself.
amazing video on a subject I've seen growing and have explored! all I can say is that the voice of the Lia was a bit tought to make out at times but that might just be me
I love traumacore and find some therapeutic value in it, but so many people I see involved (myself included) just cycle around in the misery and around and don’t make any moves to get out of it It’s easier to just sit in it than get help and the community makes that even easier and more appealing
I don't like when people say that others circle in their misery. I've heard that sort of thing being said by well intentioned people and good people but I dislike it... because it feels like they just fault the people who are suffering and unable to escape it. That's why I dislike some parts of therapy because it treats our brain and consciousness as the soul thing that is in control of everything and it makes our problems seem like souly personal when they're not. We're affected by the cruelties and injustices happening around us, we're hurt and broken and rebuilt from pieces and taken advantage of and so on. We're hurting because humanity is flawed... and I find it exhausting to always try to escape because it feels fake. Maybe I'm crazy saying this but... perhaps it should be okay to have a way to transform your trauma into art and wollow in the misery of it's own creator for a bit...if it means I'll get to fall asleep peacefully after a good cry at 2 in the morning... I love traumacore... and I think it can be so beautiful...and safe...
Amazing video, as always! My only note is if you have a guest on and so the distorted voice, maybe go a little lighter on distortion because it's hard to catch everything just listening while you're doing something else
I deeply resonate with a lot of the comments here. I spent years on tumblr for aesthetics and inspiration towards my own work, and nostalgia of growing up in a small industrial town in Michigan I worked through a lot of people finding their comfort in some really weird things, trauma core being one of them, again with that heavy cross section of liminality, which I didn’t understand as a concept when I followed it, but trauma core had the same atmosphere I always thought the messages were way too personal to be generalized, so they felt like diary entries or something, a bit self indulgent. Extremely distracting. I never considered, but it makes sense, that trauma core could be someone living in the past, and hyper fixating on their pain, as some sort of attempt at validating their own misery instead of finding a way out of it
That 1 "the bugs will get me if I don't run", well all I can say to that is "there is only so far we can run on this earth and it isn't far enough". The next 1 hit close to home with that "Im so sorry for being so hard to understand".
There is nothing inherently wrong with creating art that honestly expresses our darkest and most painful experiences and feelings, but it's also good to be conscious of the fact that not everyone is ok with those reminders out of nowhere without warning. Share with care. There are ways to do so on every social media platform I know of. If you create or consume this kind of art, also be careful with yourself. If it helps you to process things, that's great. However, it's important to know when it's not helping and when it's too much. If you catch yourself going too far down the rabbit hole and getting stuck in the trauma, try to take a step back and do something with a totally different vibe.
I remembered i looked at traumacore alot as a younger child. I never felt uncomfortable with it, then again, i might have not have been as deep into it as others, i loved weirdcore, the chaos, was sorta calming, and traumacore was recommend from it, looking back, it was probably something i shouldn't have been seeing. I feel the internet can sometimes manipulate the way kids think, and how they react to certain things.
I would say the social worker gave a pretty good, careful analysis, and they did a great job with the pros, but they kept speaking as professionally as possible and I think maybe more honest and even critical language might better suit the cons of something like “trauma core”. Like….. It’s an “identity” based scene, mixed with a psychological horror type of fan scene, I do not believe more than half of the creators actually experienced such trauma and it needs to be considered as a mix of attempted therapeutic art and exploitative, transgressive art. And mixing horror fans who want to make the most unsettling, disturbing content possible with actual victims of trauma who begin hoping it will help them, is the perfect recipe for a negative feedback loop of more horrific, more awful = better. And then, like all the other “cores” and other tiktok cultures of identity (the faking mental illness like Tourette’s and DiD scene comes to mind) is going to lead people into the darkest places possible, reveling in the worst moments of their lives, or posing as if they are doing such (yes, posing as in poseurs) and the whole thing becomes an egdelord ridden home for true victims, fans of darker content, and actual sociopathic predators who enjoy the suffering of others. We have seen bizarre cases where people catfish as if they were a peer, and convincing people to harm themselves, ending up being a middle aged man with no interest in anything but cp and causing the most vulnerable young girls to do awful things with blackmail. I’m not totally going to wag my finger at it, I myself am a big fan of some very bleak and horrific content (fictional and historic). I find true crime a bit objectionable, snuff videos on the web totally repulsive, harm videos….It makes me angry this even exists. Anyway…traumacore feels like it can get very close to NSFL subjects and I can see many finding a home inside this community, and sadly being inside the home when it comes burning down. Anyhow, great video, I think u covered it with a genuine and careful approach and did your best to stay tasteful.
I completely agree with the professional here. It is a form of art, and it can be potentially theraputic or potentially retraumatizing to the artist, and it can be potentially destigmatizing and freeing for viewers while also potentially traumatic or hurtful. I do think that having a concept like this in existence benefits the internet. We need to allow people to feel their feelings, and communicate them, and shout into the crowds of people "PLEASE TELL ME I'M NOT ALONE." It's very important, ESPECIALLY for survivors of abuse. I understand that it is possibly more likely than other things to end up triggering viewers coming across it accidentally, but the truth is that situation is nearly unavoidable if you just stay on the internet for long enough. Many, many forms of art or self-expression are dark and potentially triggering because "happy happy sunshine" often gets boring after a while. It is important to keep that issue in mind and to do our part, but completely fixing that issue is impossible. TL;DR: People should find ways to express themselves in a healthy manner, and I do think traumacore can be healthy if done right, and if the community around it is supportive enough.
I really appreciated the interview with the professional. However it was really difficult to follow along with the heavy filtering. I understand why you did it, but if you do something like it again, I would appreciate if it was a little easier to listen to. Thank you for the video, it's greatly appreciated.
why not treat disturbing images like that as one would 18+ nsfw art? behind private accounts and shared in a space where people ARE expecting it and can opt in. I think that would be safest
@lambykin842 there's something for that: therapy. These kids shouldn't be making this stuff online and should be treated by professionals. All that uploading this schlop does is temporarily help with the problem, not solve it. These kids should be in therapy, not making stuff like this
Besides the issue that others mentioned that a lot are minors, there's also the fact that, for some people, something completely innocuous might be disturbing because of something that happened to them. If, say, something traumatic happened involving a red car, the sight of red cars might be disturbing to them as a result.
@@MoofshireNow I know we hear this time and time again, but isn't therapy like, expensive? I have a pretty bad habit of dismissing it for myself because of it.
![Terrifying Noises From The Internet [Vol. 5]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/k8LGvvKKHqQ/mqdefault.jpg)
As somebody who has trauma I understand what you mean by finding comfort in chaos over time. I have recently noticed a huge positive shift in my life and mental health and i have found myself so uncomfortable in it because it is so unusual to me. It is shocking, I didn’t realise things were that bad
I am glad to hear about your improvement, good job!
Give it time :)
@@baumundallesandere Thank you
Lol
When things gets hard and you don't know what you're supposed to feel or be Traumacore kinda tells you
But then you're moving on and you start noticing how terrifying those things are lmao
It's kinda sad
What did you do to improve post trauma?
this core always felt like a double-edged sword. for me, in middle school through high school I was obsessed with collecting these images, many that reflected trauma I experienced. Its an art that captures the emotions of the few morsels of childhood many can remember. Remembering the aesthetic of childhood- bright colors, toys, birthday parties, playgrounds, but the abuse that seeps in between memories; creating a mental Collage of innocence but something rotten as well. in retrospect, this cope filters the abuse with a childlike aesthetic, to hold onto the colorful side of childhood many of us never could fully enjoy without being hurt or neglected.
you approached this respectfully, as it is not all great, creating a mental pattern of framing the abuse as “aesthetic” or “cute”, is not healthy, but a coping mechanism many now have become dependent on or misappropriate it. thank you so much for not shaming us who still use this or have, healing is a journey, with many coping mechanisms, relapses,etc. once again, i appreciate your effort dearly.
You described it perfectly. I don't participate in traumacore, but the few images I've come across have evoked those mixed feelings of childhood nostalgia laced with extreme discomfort and pain. It's too triggering for me personally, but I do have a weird sense of respect for the artists who manage to capture those feelings so directly. I hope they all come through whatever they're going through...it's hell, but it can get better.
So damn dorky and pathetic. Waaah I have trauma waaah
Traumacore is made to be disturbing. For me personally, I went through trauma as a child and traumacore helps me cope and understand that others know how I feel. It makes me feel less alone, ironically even though it has a liminal aesthetic. It reminds me that people understand me and my emotions. It can be harmful and peaceful, it depends on how you use it. Some people use traumacore to sit in their trauma and not cope, only to remember it and not try to move on. However, others like myself use it to cope and understand that others know how we feel. It can be comforting to those who went through trauma. It isn’t an ‘aesthetic’, it is a form of editing and artwork that utilizes other aesthetics to make its own genre of photo editing, like liminal photography.
Adding onto my own comment. It’s not therapy. It can help people cope, but people cannot get over trauma just using traumacore.
I still don't understand what traumacore is
@@billblaski9523 It’s a piece of art/photographic editing usually people with trauma make to vent out their frustrations and intrusive thoughts, though other people are sometimes comforted by it as well because it shows that they aren’t alone in how they feel.
as someone who fortunately never went through any traumas as a child i think ppl should allowed to do whatever tf they want as long as it's not hurting anyone anything. including traumacore, but i also do believe trauma core need to be extremely regulated as in not putting them in public/mainstream places on the internet therefore should make something like a community of TC people only so people could post their arts just there without people that has traumas but never know what Trauma Core is before, to be "traumatized again" if you know what i mean.
edit: some confusing sentences
@@homeland1128 Absolutely, having traumacore with specific tags or blogs or warnings should happen. It can hurt people who can’t handle that type of content, or are uncomfortable by it.
Youth therapist here, also with a focus on trauma work - thank you for this video, and for consulting with an actual professional in the field! I agree that “traumacore” art walks a fine line between just sitting in your trauma and actually working through it.
its beautifully disturbing. I love that people create such vastly different art it makes me happy.
That's horrifying.
Art is always subjective. Sometimes positive, sometimes negative. Some of the most popular artists and authors in the world created Horror, Stephen King, Junji Ito etc.
Sometimes they have issues, sometimes they don't.
Or maybe they do all have issues, and some are just hiding it better than others.
One way or another though, they use their art for self expression.
If it helps or not also depends all on the individual.
Hey, remember when people weren't pussies?
I’m 25, so a tad (yes, JUST A TAD 😂) outside of your usual clientele age, but I’ve noticed that vent art is usually only useful to me after I’ve gotten the emotions out and am on the other side of the moment; I can look back and examine what I was feeling and why. Why did I use so much orange? Why did I use this brush? Why did I draw a bird? So on and so forth. Conversely, I may just need to get a feeling out and throw the piece away later.
I feel like a lot of good traumacore images are really good at conveying feelings and ideas that are difficult to identify and express otherwise. It's a bit like visual poetry. I do however feel that it could kind of get saturated with low-effort content that doesn't really "mean" anything other than "ooh look here's a creepy thing juxtaposed with a cute thing!" without a point. Also agree that sometimes there's content that could be potentially triggering (how often have I been scrolling past mostly surreal images and then suddenly there's a photo of slashed wrists). I think the content can be created and enjoyed by others in ways that respect each others' limits. I understand the concern that it may lead to sort of "wallowing" in trauma but I see it more as channeling negative feelings into something positive.
I've been a tumblr user for about a decade, but I specifically began my "aesthetic blog" account in around late 2015/early 2016. My main "aesthetic" (because we all get lumped into a label eventually if your blog gets big enough) is Menhera/Yami Kawaii (sickly cute), which stems from a Japanese art and fashion movement that began around the same time I started my blog, combining traditional kawaii themes with physical and mental health related vent art. Naturally, as soon as "traumacore" started becoming a term, we started getting lumped together (some of the Menhera blogs that were more focused on info/news from the Japanese scene even directly compared it a few times).
When it comes to vent art, there is a very fine line between expressing you emotions and romanticization you need to be careful of. It can be helpful when it comes to finding community and processing things, as I only started to unpack some of my own trauma involving a certain "child friendly" chat site after seeing traumacore posts related to it. You just don't wanna let yourself get lost in it for too long unless you want to start spiraling down. Helping those around you (and yourself) aim towards recovery is one of the biggest pillars on the Menhera community, and a lot of us do mix things up with also posting advice and positive affirmations so we don't wallow in the darkness too long, and we encourage each other to seek proper help if able to. Yami Kawaii is often paired with it's more light-hearted cousin Yume Kawaii (dreamy cute), because you always need to balance out the darkness with the light.
Thank God! I've already binged all your videos, I am extremely happy to have new work from you! You are one of my favorite UA-camr now even tho it was only last month when I found you!
He has a couple other channels also if interested. T6 and T6 archives.
hell yeah. I was here when this channel started, super glad you like it
I think what a lot of people don't understand about traumacore is the communicative effects of it. People with trauma are often in environments where they aren't allowed to talk about it. They are forced to pretend like everything is okay, even when it's not, and having a way to express where they actually are mentally can be incredibly helpful for feeling validation in the anger and pain trauma brings, and help process and move on from it. I'd equate it to journaling, I'll write out in a rush all the awful thoughts in my head and by the time I'm done I'm not carrying all that weight anymore. I got it out, I verbalized it, took some control over it, was able to process it in the act of putting it to pen/screen. It's absolutely not for everyone, but there is something genuinely comforting to those who suffer from the longstanding effects of trauma to know that their voice can be heard, and that they aren't completely alone.
A lot of non-traumatized individuals I see harp on it being the person "dwelling on it and wallowing in misery", when often it's the person clawing intrusive thoughts and feelings out of their own head. They aren't creating the feelings through art, they're creating the art to express feelings and thoughts that were already there. Art should comfort the disturbed, and disturb the comfortable, as the old adage goes.
!!!
So does it help
Thank you. The feelings are there regardless. Creating art around it is exactly like journaling and since I’m a more visual person it has always been easier for me to process my emotions that way. Not pulling that stuff out and dealing with it just creates anger, or the feeling like you’re vibrating in an uncomfortable way.
I can't imagine being able to journal mine. It feels too weird. Imagine if someone discovered it...
I agree. I personally don't have a problem with traumacore as someone who is currently healing from the past. I read these now, and only feel validated in how I felt in the past. But I don't feel that gut wrenching feeling like I used to when I'd just wallow in my sadness. I think it's something that can be used as expression, but some people do definitely let it consume them. Like all things, traumacore should be viewed/made in moderation, otherwise you can get consumed in the gloom. I understand why it's frowned upon, but I don't think it's all bad. If it helps the artist liberate themselves, like journaling, so be it. Art isn't always meant to be comfortable.
i went through a lot of trauma as a child, and dwelling into these communities has always left a really rough taste in my mouth. i tried dwelling into these communities to help myself feel more less alone and to feel more accepted through what i had been through, yet every time i dwelled into these communities, everyone would trigger one another and no one would ever (really) cope with their trauma. im not saying this has happened to everyone within the traumacore community, but a few spaces i joined as a young teen, it just appeared that everyone was.. almost showing off their trauma in a way with these pieces of art. everyones art pieces seemed to get more and more grotesque as i delved deeper, in a way to almost "one up" one another. i saw it happen repeatedly - as other children and young teens would make more and more disturbing art pieces to almost "show off" their trauma, which not only retriggered people, but it just became somewhat of a competition.
the art was never censored, it was never trigger warned and it was never spoken about in a therapeutic way, the children within the community who i spoke to at the time, (i must have been 14/15), only ever just.. one upped each other. they would make these art pieces - "yeah well I went through this" - "but I went through that" sort of thing. it may have just been that i fell into the *wrong* side of traumacore, but the community didnt help me at all. it just seemed like a place of competition.
traumacore can be helpful for so many people and i can understand why, as for a little while it did help me before i delved deeper into the community, but with how.. "edgy" some kids are nowadays, traumacore and these other types of "cores" that deal with the same types of topics sometimes only appear to be competition and a way for young people to just live in edgy spaces without fully getting the help they need. another group like this would be twitter and its "shtwt/edtwt" spaces - they encourage each other.
shtwt and edtwt are a WHOLE other topic, but if you read this i apologize for repeating myself/rambling lol, i just had a LOT to talk about within this topic :)
‘Traumacore’ is triggering for me at times but mostly physically painful to look at. The way I see it - if it helps, it helps. The only thing I don’t like is when folks with or without trauma use it as an “aesthetic” or try to turn trauma into something it’s not.
Real.
I dislike when people take disturbing art unrelated to trauma and then be like “omg stop objectifying trauma”
exactly. as someone who is apart of that community, it makes me genuinely angry and upset when people treat it like it's just an aesthetic. it's so much more than that. of course, it's not for everyone, but it can be very comforting for some, and to take something so raw and vulnerable and use it an aesthetic is messed up.
Thank god he made the therapist sound like a demon, it really helps put me at ease.
Therapists make money off of you being miserable.
@@thefiliriveradoctors make money on you being injured. Chefs make money on you being hungry. Builders make money on you being homeless. Thieves make money based on you being successful. This point is meaningless.
@@thefilirivera social media makes money by you feeling bored and lonely.
@thefilirivera everything that can be sold fills a need somewhere, where you would otherwise feel LESS good if you didn't have that good, service, or idea. Unless you're a masochist, of course.
@@thefiliriveraI hate seeing things like this
He is back, it’s a good day.
babe wake up, maverick files uploaded.
@@dxcvvxdso did T6
@@b0zz1380ysame people
@@b0zz1380ysay less 🤏😁🤏
He protec, he attac but most importantly he bacc
as someone w ptsd i love traumacore. creativity is one of my only healthy ways of coping and it combines all of my favorite mediums. ty for this video mav
That voice modulation is fucking traumacore
the voice he puts for lea is fucking terrifying
For me personally not even terrifying, but at the very least near incomprehensible. Wish Maverick would choose another way of masking voices... iirc there were other videos with interview parts, where voices were distorted and it was the exact same problem :/
@@GothicPunkChickyyeah, a different voice filter would be very helpful, I relied a lot on the captions so thank you Mav for adding those.
@@GothicPunkChickyit’s only a f…… boring effect and I couldn’t stand it for the whole thing … unnecessary 🤦🏻♂️
1:55 “Traumacore is made up of memoirs that do not want to be forgotten. Memoirs that crave to be resolved.”
You mean...memories? Just the regular word memories? You know, the word that means things in your memory? Instead of the word that means written and published personal accounts of someone’s whole life, or parts of their life, like an autobiography? I think you just mean memories.
Very interesting, as someone who works with children who have suffered a range of things from neglect and abuse to CSA I never knew this had a name as it’s something I’ve seen before
As someone with a lot of trauma i find a lot of comfort in "traumacore" images as lot of my traumatizing experiences came from when i was a child. I dont remember a lot of my childhood but i remember a lot of the thoughts i had. And trauma core has represented that. While i recognize that it is a dangerous line it is also nice to feel recognized in these images. I stay away from the communities though; i know if i indulge myself in a community it would make me worse mentally. Its like taking something in doses
My friend was a therapist for dis advantaged children. Her life and her health affected her outside of the therapy. She was brave up to the end she went away from us. The loss still brings me to tears. The Traumacore stuff only opens old wounds.
i always wanted to make traumacore as a form for art therapy bc i used to go to therapist as kid and all i did was art therapy. not anymore but I have the need to express myself somehow, i can’t draw for shit and internet doesn’t like ppl with actual mental health issues. that’s why i never started.
“Art should comfort the disturbed and disturbed that comfortable.”
the amount of awareness, openness and empathy you have Mav is astounding. Not only did you do so much work but you really put your own ignorance (not in the negative connotation) aside and seeked not just the perspective of say, an artist, but a fully licensed professional. This speaks volume and thank you for being so kind and respectful to the community. Much love.
I remember being 8 years old and a child predator took advantage of my kind nature.
It was thankfully nothing that went far but it was damaging enough for my brain to vault it behind lock and key until the stress of secondary school brought it out and leave me terrified and scared in the middle of the night.
Traumacore is something that i cant help but relate to, it's hard to describe but finding the calm in chaos is definitely one way to put it.
Trauma core COULD be a healing method (art therapy is a thing!), but having it be a sort of "fandom" is a really bad idea.
Its passed around a group of already very fragile people, and its constantly triggering each other. They are ripping a wound open over and over.
Yep. They put themselves in a group that talks a big deal about healing & moving on from trauma, but all they do is dwell on & amplify each other's trauma. I've seen it too much, and it's always depressing to witness.
Yeah, you put it perfectly! It doesn't seem like the sort of thing that should have a fandom, but at the same time, it feels sort of... inevitable, the way the internet is.
I have some severe PTSD.
I believe it can be helpful, in the way that you know that other people who experienced something terrible survived through it and that you can and will survive too.
Now I cant say that I like the art visually, but I can definitely see how it could help as well and make you feel less alone in dealing with having survived horrible things and the after effects of such an event.
I agree with her that its a matter of perspective, I had never viewed these disturbing images as anything but "I survived" when it is obviously art, but I can absolutely see how a different perspective could instead re-traumatize a person and would be counter productive to their healing too.
Everything is a different and unique individual who experiences things differently.
I personally prefer more positive ways of processing trauma and to lift others up in a more positive way.
Well said. 💜
As somebody who has accessed a LOT of mental health help and has been in online mental illness/healing spaces irl and online for well over a decade, I feel like, as the practices and techniques of Art Therapy allow more room for digital art, this art form might align with genuine therapy more organically
As a teen I was in what I'd say was a predecessor / ugly cousin of traumacore (many might disagree) with none of the subtlety and a fraction of the artistry... graphic self-harm pictures, was also mainly on Tumblr. Don't get me wrong, it was toxic as all hell but still, I did it for many years bcs as twisted as it is, it was therapeutic for me. I guess I mainly wanted someone to acknowledge my suffering
That was my niche as a teenager and I honestly can't describe how much damage those communities cause. I still have scars and medical issues from making gif sets depicting my own self destruction. It's just a bad vibe.
I remember seeing those pictures in random tags when I tried looking for things. Horrible stuff.
I hope you're doing better these days ❤
Definitely toxic but those communities are also where I learned a lot of harm reduction from that helped me treat my own and others’ wounds, self harm and otherwise.
I remember walking down the river one day and I found a piece of a ceramic looks like it belong to a ladle or something. It a cute innocent picture of a goose and a teddy bear on it. Seeing it Broken thrown out and washed up in the mud made me incredibly depressed in ways I didn’t know how to describe but thanks to your video I finally have words for what I was feeling
As someone who listens yo audio, this video was hilarious, he was talking about trauma core, and then interviewed Ghazghiul Consumer of souls and then the outro played
You never fail to find topics that are unique, new, and down right relevant. I never knew traumacore was a thing but it perfectly fits. Shoutout to the professional you interviewed, very cool!
as a person with cptsd, traumacore always triggered me - i tried to understand that it was helpful for people with trauma, but i couldnt help but feel uneased, panicked and disgustingly nauseated whenever i came across them. the music combined with the images makes me have (or at least it used to) episodes. I personally never found how rhese could be comforting and i despised that it almost romanticized ropics like child abuse, sa, sh and eds. I understand what it symbolizes, but i do not appreciate the way the internet has twisted and malformed its concept.
idk if the images you showed are a part of traumacore (as i am not a heavy internet user or interested in internet aesthetics, etc.) but i found them immensely comforting. i do follow quite a few instagram accounts that post similar type photos/art, as i relate to much of the content & style, and i've even posted on my own ig a handful of images i've created in similar fashion - but again i really don't know much about internet culture to the degree that many do lol.
the stuff in the vid was definitely some milder traumacore than what can be found out there lol but traumacore nonetheless
the voice changer is overdone, makes the entire interview incredibly and needlessly grating
>inb4 some numbnuts says "that's the point" to which i say -- an hero with utmost speed.
agreee
That's the point to which I say -- an hero with utmost speed.
I've been through a lot of shit when I was younger so I definitely get why people create Traumacore Art, for me to speak about my trauma has somewhat lightened the hold it had over me, and for these people to create art that shows their traumas unapolagetically, I imagine it could have helped them move on somewhat also.
The negative reaction to it from general audiences is expected, it's extremely brash and it is definitely triggering (that goes for myself also, my CPTSD was popping off seeing some of this art). Isn't art meant to evoke emotion tho? To me it just makes this stuff more interesting in how it could trigger such a reaction, it serves it's purpose imo.
Some people just tagging "#art" and nothing else with Traumacore Art is kinda fucked tho considering the general characteristics of Traumacore, but tbh maybe more people need to see this stuff, abuse happens so much more than the general population realise and for victims it definitely can feel like nobody wants to listen at times (when bottling it up just makes it even worse) so maybe they felt this was a way to get people to pay attention when so many others haven't had the time for it?
Who knows, maybe some people are just larping for the shock value of it, probably the case knowing how chronically online people crave attention so much.
oooh, never expected this to be covered
Back in the day, we'd just call this overwrought and angsty.
That voice distortion was way too much. Couldn't follow it at all, listening while working.
There's a rough balance here. You could wallow in trauma your whole life and feel pathetic, but that doesn't feel nice. Neither does bottling it up and being told to get over or forget it.
I have experienced trauma and I feel part of viewing traumacore is this visceral catharsis. On the other hand I know that my this feeling is part of my brain's way of not letting go. It's really hard to let go
i see traumacore as a form of vent art and expression art that can be really personal. sometimes it can help to just.. make something visual, instead of speaking about trauma when you aren’t ready for that yet. i find it both comforting and triggering. sometimes, i feel like i need to be triggered and upset in order to realise what it is that is hurting me. that sounds stupid, but seriously, half of the time i don’t remember the awful things that make me feel bad. sometimes i need to be told what is wrong for me to know. i think so long as you know what you are getting into, it is okay. traumacore artwork should be an outlet you use on the side, not your primary therapy.
Forget Barbieheimer!! Maverick has a new video today!! 🤘🏼
To me traumacore is like seeing your thoughts. Imagine it. You're in a place, a familiar one. Maybe one you walk past every day or frequently that to say. But now that place has implemented itself to your head. As a dreamy outcome it looks a bit off due your memory and it's way to soften things. Now imagine you can see your thoughts as words in there too. What did you think of that time or some words/questions that bothers you. That's what I would describe traumacore as.
I don't consider the stuff that I make to be traumacore but it's definitely within the same vein and I've never understood why people who make this type of content wouldn't make people aware of what they are making. I mentioned in my description and verbally at the beginning of every single video I make let the things I talk about revolve around trauma, and that I fully understand if people don't want to have anything to do with it and I don't expect to have a lot of viewers because the stuff I talked about is extremely unpleasant. I feel like people forget that whenever you don't give that contacts in that warning before you dump all of this shit on to people that you are essentially traumatizing or re-traumatizing complete strangers who wanted nothing to do with it. Like the internet is a fair place to trauma dump in my opinion, just give people a warning before they stumble upon it.
Also I apologize if there are any typos in this I am disabled and use voice typing which is not always accurate.
Back when I was first processing my trauma a few years ago, Traumacore was a huge thing I stumbled upon. I felt so seen and heard seeing other people’s art and I remember having an entire pinterest board made just to save the images. But while it made me feel connected with others, it also made me feel even worse in a way. The images were always there when i opened social media. It was constantly on the forefront of my mind causing me to basically be constantly thinking about my trauma. Those Traumacore images combined with EMDR Therapy gave me the worst 6-8 months of my life as my trauma was all I thought about and my emotions were heightened. I think it is something that can be good if used very sparingly. The “aesthetic” of traumacore being a constant in art is definitely a good and bad. I believe most people find comfort in it because they’re not ready to move on from their trauma and thus seeing images that remind them or re-traumatize them brings them a sense of comfort. I believe it’s probably one of the least effect forms of self help based off of my experience, but what helps helps and if it doesn’t, then other options are there.
I absolutely love traumacore. I love joking about my mental health because actually talking about it has ruined friendships and relationships.
I had always had a difficulty? with handling or talking/sharing emotions or something thats happened to me in my past. Thank you for makimg me feel safer about how I've felt as a whole and my "coping" mechanism. :')
As someone with issues who have had psychologists and psychiatrists growing up with them wanting to do exposure therapy to get over my traumas... lets just say I trust a person less when they use the word "triggering" or suggesting to avoid traumas because systematic desensitization DOES help.
I consume trauma core art so i can atleast give my perspective. She is right its only a self help tool. It can be helpful but only so much. That being said. I personally use trauma core music (which is usually calming and comforting tones) to comfort me while i bring up and process trauma i have. The sounds make me feel like im in a safe place where nothing can hurt me, so i can think of these things and know if i am hurt by them i am still able to be safe with the trauma core music. The tones and stuff serve as a sort of "washing" of the bad stuff. Kind of like when you're in your room when your anxious and in survival mode but then you focus on the pitter patter of the storms rain. It's hypnotic consistency allows you to dissociate to it. That's what those songs tend to do for me.
The quality of these videos are amazing, I'm so blown away by everything, but I always come back for the narration, topics and storytelling.
man i respect you so much. You handle sensitive topics so well and never speak on topics you’re not educated enough about. thank you for being great and for all the amazing content ❤
I really respect that you interviewed a professional, that shows the level of quality of your work.
I majored in Psych with a work in art psychology, and I absolutely agree with "Leah".
IMO (and yeah, everything I'm going to say from now on is my opinion, as a professional) trauma art in general is not art therapy. Art therapy involves specific techniques both for the creation of the art pieces themselves, and the interpretation of the art. The piece itself is not the most important therapeutic component, it's the subsequent interpretation and the integration of the interpretation to the therapy as a whole. You work very closely with the client. It's, like Leah said, a type of self help, buy imo in the same way a herbal sleeping aid helps with chronic insomnia. I don't think it's wrong or entirely useless, since it can be very cathartic for the artist and catharsis is extremely important. But catharsis isn't healing. It simply releases accumulated tensions and emotions. After the release, there is still a long, long way to go.
I also agree with what you said about how it victimizes the unconsenting viewer. But it can also revictimize the artist. Over and over again they go through the emotions and memories of their traumatic experience, instead of elaborating them. They stay in the catharsis phase, harming themselves every single time they make another piece. In contrast, in real art therapy, you can see the art change as the patient heals.
I have a complicated relationship with traumacore. It was something I engaged with in my early 20s, as I was dealing with the brunt of my PTSD. Eventually, I was forced to stop by an alter (a product of my own childhood trauma). I did slowly get better after I stopped engaging. I understand it helps some feel seen. I understand that. But I do feel that at some point its just emotional self harm, that if you're in deep you might not see that you're keeping yourself there. Re-traumatising yourself over n over
Its odd to know some of my hidden away art has a term. Trauma core.
And its sad to see how some people use it to harm others. As per usual humanity has ways to make you sigh and despair
I wonder if in the future there is a voice changer that is not as “messy” sounding? I usually listen to your videos without watching and I just cannot understand what the specialist is saying with that specific voice filter on.
There are subtitles in the video. Read nigga! READ!!
same, it’s really hard to decipher! that said i’m so grateful mav captioned the whole conversation - it’s such an interesting topic that even though i couldn’t hear it was a great read
True, it's annoying.
Yeah it’s very irritating
It is definitely a ..strange feeling, as someone who has undergone trauma, to see traumacore. It's nostalgic. It's sad but it's home. It's where I came from. It's the uneasiness and sadness I grew up in. It's a human thing to feel nostalgic. Even if the home is bad, even if the family is bad, even if the events are bad. It was home. And my heart will always be there.
It's less romanticizing, more looking back. Reflection, and understanding. The art doesn't have to say anything. Yet it says everything. It speaks for itself. And while it is important and well understood that you should never, ever go back to that horrible place, traumacore gives you a safe way to look at it. To observe it, to sit with it, to let your nervous system work through what it needs to work through. With art just vague enough that it can mean something to everyone. Without outright touching on the thing precisely, you can get close to it. Almost close enough to hug who you used to be and tell them it will be okay.
It’s a valid form of art just because you don’t understand it or can’t relate to it doesn’t make it “wrong art”
Trauma is all i experience in my conscious perception of the world. Relief is impossible, no such thing exists for the chronically suicidal. This is more than a cope, it’s our only way of feeling heard
I wished you would have interviewed one of the artists instead, or a traumatized person that can give you an insight of why they feel drawn to those images and communties.
I want to thank you for taking the time to take a nuanced approach to Traumacore, and especially for reaching out to a professional to get their view on it. Your videos are always wonderfully put together but I especially appreciate your work and effort on this one, and the way you did your best to see all sides.
Disturb the comfort and comfort the disturbed
There’s a difference between masking someone’s voice and using the satan filter…
the voice distortion makes it very hard to understand them.
Babe wake up new maverick files video dropped
For future videos, please make the subtitles of the audio bigger, especially if you’re gonna distort the voice.
I can see where people come at saying you don't like it but trauma court is basically like seeing exactly how you feel out there and not just keeping it to yourself.
Algo bump for my friend
Dire ayeee
Feels like my teen years again.
Manic
Bae wake up, Maverick Files posted🤗
Ah I used to be into traumacore mostly cause it made me feel less alone seeing people with the same experiences, plus I used to have a hard time recognizing and vocalizing my emotions, and this put everything I felt on one image, so yeah... I stopped looking at it once I was doing better mentally cause IT IS very triggering :/
I also remember there eas discourse cause some users tagged it "hello kitty" and such, and sanrio being such a comforting thing for many people, it is pretty sad and bad to find traumacore in the middle of something cute you enjoy and makes you feel better y'know?
i remember being obsessed with it when i wasn’t mentally stable enough/in the right headspace to interact with it in a healthy way. i remember going through a pipeline of these images and it just made me so depressed and the next day i told my therapist i wanted to go back to the mental hospital. i was NOT ok at the time but thank god i never went back. nowadays i’m in a much better place and am able to consume this type of media without it making me feel worse, in fact it usually helps me work through my traumas instead of making them worse.
This is quickly becoming my go-to UA-cam channel.
I was in the traumacore community for a bit and even made some of my own images with original photographs i took in places i spent my time in as a child. Venting about the stuff you've been through, and probably can't remember correctly will end up in you not making sense. I found comfort in the community for that reason. The lack of knowing yet the full understanding provided comfort. However, it does end up being a loop of (like the therapist said) bringing it up and processing it, but you don't move on. You stay stuck on it, esspecially if you're an artist, and you try to recreate the image again and again until it's all you have in your gallery and you are constantly reminded of this thing you're supposed to move on from.
The act of it is good, its a vent post in a way. But the act turns into an aesthetic which leads to people into traumatizing others.
this is some turbo reddit pleb stuff
Vent art is fine in my opinion, because it exposes life for the inherently negative experience it is. Although, you have to philosophically be positioned to view life as an inherently harmful thing so that your beliefs are consistent with your art. Basically, people who make 'traumacore' art for popularity and attention-seeking or as a trend can detract from the actual value of traumacore- which is its role as vent art and giving voice to those who are voiceless. It can be seen as a revolt against those who keep the horrible nature of our reality under wraps, against those that pretend their moral values have always been good, whilst their actions prove otherwise. The same kind of reactionary art or revolt was seen in Dadaism and Surrealism against the horrors of World Wars I/II.
What I mean is people shouldn't be prevented from making vent art, and the consumption or viewing of them lies in the responsibility of the viewer. It shouldn't be inherently wrong to view life as something horrible, although a lot of people will try and 'fix' you for thinking this way, including health professionals. This is why it doesn't really interest me whether traumacore is truly harmful vs. healing/therapy to its artists- it just is- it's a deluge or a vomiting up of life's inherent horridness. Sometimes there is no solution to the problem, sometimes we just get tired trying. Sometimes healing is impossible and by understanding you're in a hopeless situation, one can come to peace with it. I'm not against criticizing traumacore art, I'm against silencing it.
as someone into menhera / yami kawaii this was a really interesting watch. been into it for about a decade now, and i've sort of thought about the implications, but always just settled on 'it works for me'. not the best comparison to traumacore because it is actually pretty nuanced, but can definitely imagine a similar video with what i'm into. it has it's place, but it's definitely not for the general audience. it works really well as an outlet for some of us though. the general rule imo is to just not push it onto other people. with my own art, it actually has done me a lot of good for processing complicated feelings. though i try to make much more happy art as of late and keep that sort of stuff more to myself.
Love the video very informative and intriguing! However the audio used to hide the professionals voice was a bit difficult to understand.
amazing video on a subject I've seen growing and have explored! all I can say is that the voice of the Lia was a bit tought to make out at times but that might just be me
I love traumacore and find some therapeutic value in it, but so many people I see involved (myself included) just cycle around in the misery and around and don’t make any moves to get out of it
It’s easier to just sit in it than get help and the community makes that even easier and more appealing
I don't like when people say that others circle in their misery. I've heard that sort of thing being said by well intentioned people and good people but I dislike it... because it feels like they just fault the people who are suffering and unable to escape it.
That's why I dislike some parts of therapy because it treats our brain and consciousness as the soul thing that is in control of everything and it makes our problems seem like souly personal when they're not.
We're affected by the cruelties and injustices happening around us, we're hurt and broken and rebuilt from pieces and taken advantage of and so on. We're hurting because humanity is flawed... and I find it exhausting to always try to escape because it feels fake. Maybe I'm crazy saying this but... perhaps it should be okay to have a way to transform your trauma into art and wollow in the misery of it's own creator for a bit...if it means I'll get to fall asleep peacefully after a good cry at 2 in the morning...
I love traumacore... and I think it can be so beautiful...and safe...
Started the vid and subbed as soon as I heard your voice. Very relaxing to listen to and can't wait for more vids!
I’ve been waiting so long for my daily scary serotonin or as I call it scare-itonin
traumacore is so fucking corny dawggg 💀
The voice changing was unlistenable. Wtf I was interested in the topic but that was like nails on a chalkboard. Damn.
Amazing video, as always! My only note is if you have a guest on and so the distorted voice, maybe go a little lighter on distortion because it's hard to catch everything just listening while you're doing something else
Exactly what I needed before going to sleep
I deeply resonate with a lot of the comments here. I spent years on tumblr for aesthetics and inspiration towards my own work, and nostalgia of growing up in a small industrial town in Michigan
I worked through a lot of people finding their comfort in some really weird things, trauma core being one of them, again with that heavy cross section of liminality, which I didn’t understand as a concept when I followed it, but trauma core had the same atmosphere
I always thought the messages were way too personal to be generalized, so they felt like diary entries or something, a bit self indulgent. Extremely distracting.
I never considered, but it makes sense, that trauma core could be someone living in the past, and hyper fixating on their pain, as some sort of attempt at validating their own misery instead of finding a way out of it
That 1 "the bugs will get me if I don't run", well all I can say to that is "there is only so far we can run on this earth and it isn't far enough".
The next 1 hit close to home with that "Im so sorry for being so hard to understand".
There is nothing inherently wrong with creating art that honestly expresses our darkest and most painful experiences and feelings, but it's also good to be conscious of the fact that not everyone is ok with those reminders out of nowhere without warning. Share with care. There are ways to do so on every social media platform I know of.
If you create or consume this kind of art, also be careful with yourself. If it helps you to process things, that's great. However, it's important to know when it's not helping and when it's too much. If you catch yourself going too far down the rabbit hole and getting stuck in the trauma, try to take a step back and do something with a totally different vibe.
I remembered i looked at traumacore alot as a younger child. I never felt uncomfortable with it, then again, i might have not have been as deep into it as others, i loved weirdcore, the chaos, was sorta calming, and traumacore was recommend from it, looking back, it was probably something i shouldn't have been seeing. I feel the internet can sometimes manipulate the way kids think, and how they react to certain things.
I missed your videos, we're glad you're back!
I would say the social worker gave a pretty good, careful analysis, and they did a great job with the pros, but they kept speaking as professionally as possible and I think maybe more honest and even critical language might better suit the cons of something like “trauma core”. Like…..
It’s an “identity” based scene, mixed with a psychological horror type of fan scene, I do not believe more than half of the creators actually experienced such trauma and it needs to be considered as a mix of attempted therapeutic art and exploitative, transgressive art. And mixing horror fans who want to make the most unsettling, disturbing content possible with actual victims of trauma who begin hoping it will help them, is the perfect recipe for a negative feedback loop of more horrific, more awful = better. And then, like all the other “cores” and other tiktok cultures of identity (the faking mental illness like Tourette’s and DiD scene comes to mind) is going to lead people into the darkest places possible, reveling in the worst moments of their lives, or posing as if they are doing such (yes, posing as in poseurs) and the whole thing becomes an egdelord ridden home for true victims, fans of darker content, and actual sociopathic predators who enjoy the suffering of others. We have seen bizarre cases where people catfish as if they were a peer, and convincing people to harm themselves, ending up being a middle aged man with no interest in anything but cp and causing the most vulnerable young girls to do awful things with blackmail.
I’m not totally going to wag my finger at it, I myself am a big fan of some very bleak and horrific content (fictional and historic). I find true crime a bit objectionable, snuff videos on the web totally repulsive, harm videos….It makes me angry this even exists. Anyway…traumacore feels like it can get very close to NSFL subjects and I can see many finding a home inside this community, and sadly being inside the home when it comes burning down.
Anyhow, great video, I think u covered it with a genuine and careful approach and did your best to stay tasteful.
Fascinating stuff xx
I completely agree with the professional here. It is a form of art, and it can be potentially theraputic or potentially retraumatizing to the artist, and it can be potentially destigmatizing and freeing for viewers while also potentially traumatic or hurtful. I do think that having a concept like this in existence benefits the internet. We need to allow people to feel their feelings, and communicate them, and shout into the crowds of people "PLEASE TELL ME I'M NOT ALONE." It's very important, ESPECIALLY for survivors of abuse. I understand that it is possibly more likely than other things to end up triggering viewers coming across it accidentally, but the truth is that situation is nearly unavoidable if you just stay on the internet for long enough. Many, many forms of art or self-expression are dark and potentially triggering because "happy happy sunshine" often gets boring after a while. It is important to keep that issue in mind and to do our part, but completely fixing that issue is impossible.
TL;DR: People should find ways to express themselves in a healthy manner, and I do think traumacore can be healthy if done right, and if the community around it is supportive enough.
I really appreciated the interview with the professional. However it was really difficult to follow along with the heavy filtering. I understand why you did it, but if you do something like it again, I would appreciate if it was a little easier to listen to. Thank you for the video, it's greatly appreciated.
holy shit i have never been so early in my life. i'm super excited to see what you cooked up today
why not treat disturbing images like that as one would 18+ nsfw art? behind private accounts and shared in a space where people ARE expecting it and can opt in. I think that would be safest
Bc ppl are stupid and are just gonna ignore it. Stuff like this is pretty difficult to regulate.
probably because a large portion of people who partake these things are minors
@lambykin842 there's something for that: therapy. These kids shouldn't be making this stuff online and should be treated by professionals. All that uploading this schlop does is temporarily help with the problem, not solve it. These kids should be in therapy, not making stuff like this
Besides the issue that others mentioned that a lot are minors, there's also the fact that, for some people, something completely innocuous might be disturbing because of something that happened to them. If, say, something traumatic happened involving a red car, the sight of red cars might be disturbing to them as a result.
@@MoofshireNow I know we hear this time and time again, but isn't therapy like, expensive? I have a pretty bad habit of dismissing it for myself because of it.
I thought this was lost media. I remember when you uploaded this to liminal before turning it into a ambience playlist.
I've been here since the beginning. And you've quickly become my favorite UA-camr.
Loved the sit down interview with the Arkham Knight
Beautifully done, timesix. As always.
babe wake up maverick files posted