Raising Awareness

I got a tattoo.

I could write an entire post about which one I chose and why.  I might do that someday.

I could write a very lengthy post about peoples REACTION to my tattoo.  I might do that someday.

But today, I just wanted to draw attention to the purpose of the tattoo.

The purpose of a tattoo is to draw attention to ones self.  It’s like using your body as a billboard, to support or highlight the things you find desirable and important to you.  It’s saying “Look at this, I want you to see this.” The purpose of a tattoo is to draw attention.  People don’t get a tattoo unless they want someone to notice it.

Some people tattoo their kids names, or birth dates, and one of my favorite pieces of art, was baby footprints of a mans twin girls.  Another one that stood out to me in my research was a Phoenix that was tattooed as a cover for an old gang tattoo.  Poetic, right?  You see, most tattoos hold a story in them.  Most tattoos MEAN something to the person that permanently engraved it on their body.

This post is about the purpose of the semi colon tattoo.

Although there are tons of blog posts about semi colon tattoos, the beginning of the tattoo movement was in the “Semi-colon Project”.  It began with Amy Buel who lost her father to depression.  According to the website, Project Semicolon aims to “present hope and love to those struggling with depression, suicide, addiction, and self-injury.”

And the semi colon isn’t the only tattoo that is being showcased in support of mental health.  The following are a few of the tattoos that are popular among depression survivors. Sometimes those who support a loved one with mental health disorders will get them too.  There are so many versions of tattoos, these are just a few.

One in Five. That’s the number of people in the USA that struggle with mental health disorders.  Chances are, you will meet or speak to a person that has a mental illness today.  It is so common among us.  Yet the other 4 out of 5 people have such a hard time wrapping their own minds around the fact that mental illness is just that. An illness.  So those that are getting tattooed, are trying to help end the ignorance.

The semicolon tattoo, is a call to attention.  It’s a small way to show awareness of a disorder that is not socially acceptable to have.   Its a billboard that says, “Ask me about my semi colon, and I will tell you my story”  The semi colon tattoo says, “Don’t be afraid to tell me you are struggling too.”  It says, “I understand you and I support you”.

The next time you see any of these tattoos, realize that that person might be fighting a very real, internal battle.  They might have a wife or son that is fighting depression on a daily basis.  They could be simply hoping to open a dialogue about mental health.  One thing is for sure, its more than just a movement, it’s more that just a tattoo, it’s a call to awareness.  Its a fight against the stigma.