The Semicolon Project

A semicolon represents a sentence the author could have ended, but chose not to. That author is you and the sentence is your life.

Let's welcome tattoo number 8 to the family....

This is a piece I have wanted for a long time, even before my suicide attempt last year. The semicolon project was started by Amy Bleuel to raise awareness of mental health problems such as depression, suicide, addiction, anxiety, and self harm. As someone who has struggled with anxiety, depression, eating disorders, and self harm myself and knows others who have too, it was important to be to validate these experiences and create a dialogue about these issues. 

Having the semicolon on the body, in a visible place, helps to start conversations about mental health problems and hopefully debunk some of the stigma surrounding these issues. I have recently tried to step up my game in mental health advocacy and begun to own my past experiences with mental health problems. I hope through opening conversations about mental health and sharing my story and experience, that I can help others. 

There is controversy over the "attention seeking" nature of these tattoos, but I think that is more reflective of the ignorance surrounding mental health issues in the wider public...

People are more than their diagnosis, and this is true for every chronic condition, however their experience of the world has been shaped in part by their condition and their story deserves to be validated as much as anyone elses. I'm still trying to better understand how to best support people through their mental health difficulties, but I hope having honest conversations can lift some of this stigma and BS.