extensive ver. ➙shortened ver. ➙

created 06.25.2021
last updated 01.27.2025

1 what is the ugsc? 1

the underground subliminal community (a term coined in july 2020 by underground subliminal maker Cornmac) is a part of the subliminal community focused on making subliminals centered around taboo topics usually related to developing/worsening mental or physical illnesses, trauma, and things of that nature. underground subliminals are typically used for the purpose of causing someone (almost always the listener) some form of direct harm."underground" has and will never mean "uncommon topics". while, yes, underground subliminals are generally more uncommon than surface subliminals, it's the topic/subject of the subliminal that makes them underground. for example, "manifest a pet giraffe" subliminals are quite rare, but are not underground because they do not focus on worsening mental or physical disorders/illnesses, trauma, or anything similar to that.subliminals with exaggerated affirmations (yes, even weight loss subliminals) are not underground. subliminals focused on directly healing disorders or trauma are also not underground.the term "graveyard" (often shortened to "grv") was also coined in 2021 by underground subliminal maker Jester as a way to regain our own term, since the label "underground subliminal" started becoming misused and appropriated by surface subliminal users who bastardized the term to simply mean "subliminals with exaggerated affirmations". therefore, the terms "underground subliminal" and "graveyard subliminal" are synonymous, since they were coined with the same meaning in mind, and are often used interchangeably within the community. for simplicity's sake, i will be using the original term "underground subliminal" in this carrd.the term "middleground subliminal" was also coined by the underground community sometime in 2021 to describe subs that did not clearly fit the ug/surface dichotomy. because of this, middleground subliminals are a bit harder to define, but the category includes topics such as parents becoming careless/neglectful (in the absence of clear abuse) or manifesting items such as pills and lighters.every underground subliminal maker is unique, and therefore has their own limits as to what underground subs they will and will not make.please note that this is merely a brief overview of the coining, history, and meaning of the term "underground subliminal" and is not in any way meant to be a full history, nor is it a comprehensive notation of everything the ugsc encompasses or stands for.some terms i will be using in this carrd:
ug - underground
ugsm - underground subliminal maker
ugsu - underground subliminal user
ugsc - underground subliminal community
surface (community) - non-underground subs/sub users

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2 why do we do this? 2

to put it bluntly: we are mentally ill. shocking, right? but it's true. everyone in our community that uses mental illness subliminals already has a mental illness, and we're just trying to cope with it. and i know what you're thinking: "but i have xyz illness and it sucks, why would anyone want this?!" while i understand your concern, please understand that everyone's mental health is different. for most of us in the ugsc, we feel like we aren't valid enough/that we aren't struggling enough, so we use subliminals to make it worse. we may also make our current situation worse so that people will notice how much we're struggling, or to get a diagnosis. for others, it is a form of self-harm, and they tell themselves they deserve horrible things to happen to them. there are also people that use these subs to feel some sort of control over their illness.actually, i held a poll on almost 300 members of the ugsc. the questions asked what ug subs they use, how long they've been using them, and why. you can find the answers to that poll here!unsurprisingly, these sentiments of "wanting to get worse" are non-exclusive to the underground subliminal community, and are pretty prominent in the more general mentally ill community. don't believe me? read this reddit post. or this one. or maybe even this one. oh, or this one! my point is, feeling as if you aren't struggling enough or feeling like your mental health isn't being taken seriously by those around you isn't uncommon. and wanting to get worse in order to cope with those feelings is also not uncommon.if you're interested, it may also be worth looking into something called "repetition compulsion", where people with trauma will symbolically re-enact or even literally put themselves in a situation where they are likely to re-experience a traumatic event.

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3 common questions/concerns! 3

this section is going to be the longest one, so my apologies in advance! but i ask you at least skim through or read most of it, as it explains the motive behind ugsu/ugsm and why the rude messages we are sent don't help at all, and sometimes come off as really tone-deaf.

"you're romanticizing this disorder!"

this goes for people that say we're romanticizing, glamorizing, normalizing, or any other overused tiktok buzzword that ends with "-izing": we're not. most (if not all) underground subliminal users already struggle with something, and we know how awful it is. the reason the ugsc exists is because we KNOW these things are bad, and that's why we use these as a form of self harm and to make our existing mental health problems worse. there are warnings on our subliminals so people truly know what they're getting into. we don't intend to advertise these things as "cute", "quirky", or "desirable".

"you want mental illness for the aesthetic!"

i sort of glossed over this in my first paragraph, but to put it short, we KNOW these things are not to be glamorized, aestheticized, romanticized, etc. they are SERIOUS illnesses and disorders. we "want" mental illness because we dont feel valid enough with our existing symptoms. from my own personal experience, i use BPD subs because despite being diagnosed, i dont feel like i am suffering enough and that other people with BPD have it worse. for others, it could be due to factitious disorder, or because they are severely neglected and lack the attention/care that they may need. in other cases (which i've found is most common amongst those who use subliminals for anorexia), they feel as if they won't be valid in their suffering unless they are as sick as possible.

"why not use a sub to get better?"

simple: not everyone is ready to or wants to get better. everyone's in different stages of the recovery process, and forcing recovery on someone who simply isn't ready for it just... doesn't work. but as the ugsc, we promote recovery 100%. if anyone ever decides they don't want to be sick anymore, we would totally support them! and if people want to get worse, we support them, too. it's about not forcing either side on anyone, and letting people make their own decisions regarding their mental health and recovery.a quote from daywalker's ugsc info doc really spoke to me. it stated "many users are not ready to recover from their trauma or mental illnesses. many may find it scary, or have a history of bad events that happened during their recovery". that the "surface [community] spreads toxic positivity and toxic recovery", and that "here in the ugsc, everyone relates to each other and gives each other time for recovery".

"but xyz is harmful, it can't be used as a form of self harm"

yes... self HARM is..... HARMful..................
im saying this, as i got a comment on a subliminal stating "having autism and tourette’s shouldn’t be self harm. those are actual medical conditions." and that's the point! why would someone give themselves a mental disorder, or try to make it so unbearable to the point that they can barely function (or unable to function at all), right? because that would HARM them. self-harm is self-harm, whether you agree with it or not.what if you treated people who physically self harm the way you treated us? "ew, you self harm? i got a huge cut on my arm as a child and i dont see why ANYONE would want this. you're disgusting and invalidating REAL injured people". see how that doesn't make any sense?

"but i have this disorder and dont use these subs!"

good for you. everyone's ways of dealing with trauma and mental illness are different. this is ours. not everyone that is mentally ill or traumatized will use the ugsc to cope, and they dont have to. i would never go up to my mentally ill friends and say "omg, u should use this depression sub!! it'll make u so cute and quirky! uwu" but if someone has discovered them on their own and decides this works for them, that's fine, and if they find these subs and they don't help, that's fine too. it's not my place to tell someone else how they should or should not cope, unless they're causing direct emotional or physical harm to someone else. however, the problem comes when surface users see us as less valid or less mentally ill than them because we use these subs. i don't see why anyone feels the need to say their suffering is more or less valid than another's, just because they don't use a certain type of subliminal. we're all struggling.

"get help"/"get therapy"

wow, thanks for the super helpful insight! i never even thought of that, and i definitely haven't already heard it a billion times from other randoms on the internet! im cured!!!!!! <3<3<3<3 /s
in all seriousness, saying these things really doesn't help. it's the equivalent to saying to someone with anorexia "just eat!". most people in the ugsc are people that just don't have access to mental health resources. there are people that simply can't afford it, and there are people whose parents don't believe in mental illness, and won't take them to see a therapist. also, a lot of the ugsc are bipoc, and most of us are afab/tme. why is this important? well, even when bipoc & afab/tme people CAN get access to healthcare, we are taken less seriously than white or amab/tma people. doctors are less likely to take our symptoms seriously, and we may be ignored or have our concerns minimized. we are also more likely to be misdiagnosed as well. doctors are more likely to diagnose white patients with major depression, but with black patients, even if the same symptoms are expressed, we are more likely to be diagnosed with schizophrenia. and i'm sure we all know the gender and race biases when it comes to autism diagnoses. it's just not realistic to expect everyone to be able to access proper medical or mental health care, so it can come across as tone-deaf to some. the comments on this community post are from bipoc in the ugsc talking about their experiences. you can sort the comments by newest if you want to see all of them.

"these types of subliminals won't even work."

all types of subliminals work. when you manifest, anything is possible. i don't know why people think underground subliminals don't work. they're barely any different from surface subliminals, aside from the topics, of course. your subconscious will not "block it out" unless you want to, because your subconscious is not a separate entity, it is YOU. besides, if you don't think it will work, why are you so against it? if you just see us as "a bunch of edgy kids listening to rain sounds", then why do you care so much?

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4 conclusion 4

if you took the time to listen to us, and spent even 5 minutes having a conversation with any member of the ugsc, you would realize we do not promote our behaviors at all. we are simply just trying to cope in our own ways.the reason why the ugsc has become bigger over the years is because we constantly get "exposed", which brings people to our channels, either out of hatred or because they want to use our subs. either way, both give us more attention, views, and comments, which promotes our community even further.exposing us will only make it worse. every time our channels get raided, or posted on tiktok, or another youtube commentary channel makes a video on us, we only get MORE promotion, which means MORE people using our subs. and think about it, what is tiktok's major demographic? teenagers. a lot of surface people complain that making ug subliminals public will harm the children that come across them, but they're the ones publicizing our subliminals and bringing children here.people outside of the ugsc that struggle with mental illnesses may put themselves in intentional danger as a form of self-harm, and that's all we're doing here, too. why are we any different? we use these subliminals to make our mental health worse, end of story. sending us death threats will do the same thing—make our mental health worse. so why do you get to act like the good guys?if we're all struggling, we should all support each other, right? that's what our community is for. here in the underground, there's no drama. we don't put other people down or send others death threats. we are all here to support each other with whatever we're going through. why take that away?"i have no problem with ppl who don’t agree with what i do, in fact i completely understand it. HOWEVER, i will never tolerate those who repeatedly bully, report, and harass mentally ill minors online to feed their superiority complex. if you have ever left a nasty comment on an underground video i truly believe you are a horribly ignorant and awful person. you are not the only person with trauma, and you have no place to dictate how ill ppl should cope." - cybercrystalz"this is why we always put in our descriptions that we do not recommend manifesting what we put in our subliminals unless you're really sure and that you've researched about it on your own end. there is no denying that children may stumble across our subliminals and use them, but we try not to enable them and tell them to think about their decision more thoroughly instead. even then, it shouldn't be our responsibility to monitor and babysit somebody else's children. most of us here are already traumatized. most of us here are already neurodivergent and/or mentally ill. most of us already suffer with the topics that we actively search for and listen to. of course we know it's not fun. of course we know that it's not going to be rainbows and cupcakes manifesting all this. the reason why we manifest and worsen these in the first place is because of the pain and suffering that these illnesses, conditions and situations will give us. our reasons vary, but one of our most common ones is that we don't feel like we've went through and/or are going through enough. it's a coping mechanism for all of us. it's another form of sxlf-hxrm. you don't want to get worse? that's valid. you want to seek treatment for your conditions and want to get better? completely valid, and i applaud to you for that. but you and i are not the same people, so you and i will not have the same desires. and, no, telling us to simply "get help" will not help, either - a lot of us here can't even convince our parents and guardians to get us therapy, let alone afford it. even if we do want help, therapy is expensive and a privilege, and there is no guarantee that you will get better, either. wanting trauma is a symptom of trauma. we want trauma because we have most likely already been through it, in some shape and form. - lightlyif you still have any questions or concerns, feel free to dm me on discord (cyber#7909)!! i try my best to answer every dm i get. <3

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1 what is the ugsc? 1

the underground subliminal community is a part of the subliminal community focused on making subliminals centered around taboo topics such as worsening mental or physical disorders/illnesses, trauma, and similar things. underground subliminals are typically used with the intent of causing harm to oneself.subliminals with exaggerated affirmations (yes, even weight loss subliminals) are not underground. subliminals focused on directly healing disorders or trauma are also not underground.the term 'graveyard subliminal' has also been coined to have an identical meaning to 'underground subliminal', and the two terms are used interchangeably.some terms i will be using in this carrd:
ug - underground
ugsm - underground subliminal maker
ugsu - underground subliminal user
ugsc - underground subliminal community
surface (community) - non-underground subs/sub users

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2 why do we do this? 2

to put it bluntly, we do this because we have a mental illness. shocking, right? but it's true. everyone in our community that uses mental illness subliminals already has a mental illness, and we're just trying to cope with it. for most of us in the ugsc, we feel like we aren't valid enough/that we aren't struggling enough, so we use subliminals to make our current situation worse. we also make our current situation worse so that people will notice how much we're struggling, or to get a diagnosis. for others, it is a form of self-harm, and they tell themselves they deserve horrible things to happen to them. there are also people that use these subs to feel some sort of control over their illness.it's also not uncommon for mentally ill people to want to get worse. if you're interested in reading personal accounts from other mentally ill people (that aren't apart of the ugsc), you can read this reddit post, or this one, or this one, or even this one! if you feel like doing some research, try reading about repetition compulsion.

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3 common questions/concerns! 3

"you're romanticizing this disorder!"

this goes for ppl that say we're romanticizing, glamorizing, normalizing, or any other overused tiktok buzzword: we're not. most (if not all) underground subliminal users already struggle with something, and we know how awful it is. we KNOW these things are bad, and that's why we use these as a form of self harm and to make our existing mental health problems worse. there are warnings on our subliminals so people truly know what they're getting into. we don't advertise these things as "cute", "quirky", or "desirable".

"you want mental illness for the aesthetic!"

i sort of glossed over this in my first paragraph, but to put it short, we KNOW these things are not to be glamorized, aestheticized, romanticized, etc. they are SERIOUS illnesses and disorders. we "want" mental illness because we dont feel valid enough with our existing symptoms. from my own personal experience, i use BPD subs because despite being diagnosed, i dont feel like i am suffering enough and that other people with BPD have it worse. for others, it could be due to factitious disorder, or because they are severely neglected and lack the attention/care that they may need. in other cases (which i've found is most common amongst those who use subliminals for anorexia), they feel as if they won't be valid in their suffering unless they are as sick as possible.

"why not use a sub to get better?"

simple: not everyone is ready to or wants to get better. everyone is in different stages of the recovery process. but as the ugsc, we promote recovery 100%. if anyone ever decides they don't want to be sick anymore, we would totally support them! and if people want to get worse, we support them, too. it's about not forcing either side on anyone, and letting people make their own decisions regarding their mental health and recovery.a quote from daywalker's ugsc info doc stated "many users are not ready to recover from their trauma or mental illnesses. many may find it scary, or have a history of bad events that happened during their recovery". that the "surface [community] spreads toxic positivity and toxic recovery", and that "here in the ugsc, everyone relates to each other and gives each other time for recovery".

"but i have this disorder and dont use these subs!"

good for you. everyone's ways of dealing with trauma and mental illness are different. not everyone that is mentally ill or traumatized will use the ugsc to cope, and they don't have to. if someone has discovered underground subliminals on their own and decides this is what works for them, that's fine, and if they find these subs and they don't help, that's fine too. it's not my place to tell someone else how they should or should not cope, unless they're causing direct emotional or physical harm to someone else. the problem comes when surface users see us as less valid or less mentally ill than them because we use these subs. we're all struggling.

"get help"/"get therapy"

saying these things really doesn't help. it's the equivalent to saying to someone with anorexia "just eat!". most people in the ugsc are people that just don't have access to mental health resources. there are people that simply can't afford it, and there are people whose parents don't believe in mental illness, and won't take them to see a therapist. also, a lot of the ugsc are bipoc, and most of us are afab/tme. why is this important? well, even when bipoc & afab/tme people CAN get access to healthcare, we are taken less seriously than white or amab/tma people. doctors are less likely to take our symptoms seriously, and we may be ignored or have our concerns minimized. we are also more likely to be misdiagnosed as well. and i'm sure we all know the gender and race biases when it comes to autism diagnoses.

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4 conclusion 4

if you took the time to listen to us, and spent even 5 minutes having a conversation with any member of the ugsc, you would realize that we do not promote our behaviors at all. the ugsc was never meant to be this big of a community. the only reason the ugsc got so big was because we kept getting exposed, which brings people to our channels, either out of hatred or because they want to use our subs. either way, both give us more attention, views, and comments, which promotes our community even further.exposing us will only make it worse. every time our channels get raided, or posted on tiktok, we only get MORE people using our subs. and think about it, what is tiktok's major demographic? teenagers. a lot of surface people complain that making these subliminals public will harm the children that come across them, but they're the ones publicizing our subliminals and bringing children here."i have no problem with ppl who don’t agree with what i do, in fact i completely understand it. HOWEVER, i will never tolerate those who repeatedly bully, report, and harass mentally ill minors online to feed their superiority complex. if you have ever left a nasty comment on an underground video i truly believe you are a horribly ignorant and awful person. you are not the only person with trauma, and you have no place to dictate how ill ppl should cope." - cybercrystalzpeople outside of the ugsc that struggle with mental illnesses may put themselves in intentional danger as a form of self-harm, and that's all we're doing here, too. why are we any different? we use these subliminals to make our mental health worse, end of story. sending us death threats will do the same thing—make our mental health worse. so why do you get to act like the good guys?if we're all struggling, we should all support each other, right? that's what our community is for. here in the underground, there's no drama. we don't put other people down or send others death threats. we are all here to support each other with whatever we're going through. why take that away?if you still have any questions or concerns, consider reading the full version of this carrd that is slightly more fleshed-out. otherwise, feel free to dm me on discord (cyber#7909)!! i try my best to answer every dm i get. <3

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