The semi colon tattoo......

Not sure where to put this so sorry if it should be else where.

There is a new tattoo craze happening within the community of those who have considered or taken steps towards suicide, it is a semi colon on the inside of the wrist.

I would like to hear others views. I'm in two minds about it I like the thought of what a semi colon represents in grammar and how it transfers it's meaning over, but on the other hand I feel it kind of cheapens the struggle and becomes a badge to be collected.

Any thoughts would be great.

The problem is, it will eventually be a well-known symbol. ...One you may not want your employer to ever see.

And there is a religious bent to the whole semicolon project, which you may or may not relate to

"The trend of semicolon tattoos was started by Project Semicolon, which describes itself as "a faith-based non-profit movement dedicated to presenting hope and love to those who are struggling with depression, suicide, addiction and self-injury." As to the significance of the symbol itself, the organization writes on its website, "a semicolon is used when an author could've chosen to end their sentence, but chose not to. The author is you and the sentence is your life;" thus, in the case of these tattoos, it is a physical representation of personal strength in the face of internal struggle.

Though a Christian organization, Project Semicolon is quick to clarify that they do not exclude those who follow any other beliefs or religions. "

from :

Global Semicolon Tattoo Trend Is A Sign Of Strength Among Faithful Individuals Dealing With Mental Health Problems

As a high school teacher, I suspect this will be the latest fad and completely lose all meaning . . .

Yup

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I agree. Why not design something yourself, that will have meaning to you? I have three tattoos (all words/phrases) that I wrote/designed myself so that they are original and will always have personal meaning to me. I'm sure you can come up with something that will really represent you and your journey.

half the fun is researching symbols and thinking of unique visuals to represent yourself

Thanks everyone for your thoughts. I'm not getting this tattoo I was just wondering what others thought.

Growlycat that's a really good point about it becoming a well known symbol and perhaps it might not be something to share.

Though I like the thought behind it, I think it's better to take a symbol or something that means something to you.
I like this tattoo, but if it's getting more known worldwide, I'm not sure I would want people to see the tattoo and think that I must have considered suicide. I don't want to talk about that.

I think you should come up with your own metaphor. Tattoos shouldn't be 'trendy'

I get what people are saying about that symbol becoming "trendy" or overused. But on the other hand, I think people are trying to help lessen the stigma of mental illness....this shows people are not alone in severe emotional pain.i can see an upside to this.

And yes it's a stock symbol not originally designed, but it's their choice. And I'm sure there are still ways of personalizing it.

My daughter designed a butterfly tatto where the body is a semi-colon and the wings are a thing of beauty. She wears self-harm scars on both forearms, so might as well put something beautiful there to look at. I myself don't have scars on my body, all my scars are on the inside, and I'm getting the tattoo on my body to symbolize my own fight with mental illness, and also to honor my daughter who wakes up every damn day even though it's the hardest fight she's ever fought.

Tattoos and being tattooed are trendy, and I'm against getting tattooed just because everyone else does it. However, in that same vein, people are free to choose what they adorn themselves with. I've gotten tattoos for dumber reasons, and am planning their cover-up today!

I assume someone would get a tattoo because they survived a significant depressive episode and they consider that survival something to be proud of and they're fully prepared to discuss what that means. That's a good thing, IMO.

I have to say I like the idea of de-stigmatizing (is that a word?) depression and acknowledging the fact that many people suffer from this illness. It opens a much more public dialogue about mental health and could possibly help to defeat the shame and silence that perpetuates the problem in this society.

I actually paused for a moment and thought I might get one for my mother, who deals with depression, as well as for the fact that I have a grandfather and great-grandfather that committed suicide and it was never talked about.

I could never do it myself but I like the idea.

I heard of the semi colon tattoo a few years back. I liked the idea. I never got it simply because it didn't fit into the designs I already chose.

They are other common tattoos for mental health. Blackbirds come from the song Blackbird: "take these broken wings and learn to fly". Butterflies have always symbolized change/metamorphosis. There's something called the Butterfly Project and instead of drawing, many people choose to tattoo the butterfly.
The Rules:
1. when you feel like you want to cut, take a marker or pen and draw a butterfly wherever the self-harm occurs.
2. name the butterfly after a loved one, or someone that really wants you to get better.
3. NO scrubbing the butterfly off.
4. if you cut before the butterfly is gone, it dies. if you don't cut, it lives.
5. another person may draw them on you. these butterflies are extra special. take good care of them.
6. even if you don’t cut, feel free to draw a butterfly anyways, to show your support.

I, myself have a blackbird tattoo and butterfly tattoos. I also have an orange ribbon corset for self-injury awareness. I did these not just for the design nor to cover up the scars, but to help stop SI. My Pdoc said she has other clients who tattooed for the same reason and it works for them. The awesome thing is that I get people stopping me all the time to comment on my tattoos. Most of the time I explain to them the meaning behind the tattoos and they seem to be pretty accepting...even when I tell them about the SI.

I think if someone wants this tattoo, they should go for it even if it's only a fad.

Btw, the wrist is the most common place for the semi colon tattoo, but it's not the only place people tattoo it. And many tattoo the semi colon and an infinity symbol below it.

I think it's important for people to find their own symbolism, and then if they want to literally have it with them, for people to choose their preference.. ink, jewelry, button, sticker, art on the office wall, whatever.

I already have a symbol that represents a lot of things to me.

I think a tattoo is a very personal decision.

Personally I wouldn't want any one experience to stay on me forever in the form of a tattoo and end up defining me in some way. Especially not a painful experience such as considering suicide or actually doing something in that sense. I think a tattoo like this would just keep me in that experience, and even after having got over that experience in some way, it still labels the one wearing it in relation to suicide.

Now, if this were something less permanent, such as a bracelet or ring or bumper sticker, I would personally be more in favor of it.

I'm planning on getting a tattoo related to my self-harm when I get back from Florida in 2 weeks. My arms are very very scarred and I am very self-conscious. I also still self-harm. I'm planning on having "fearfully and wonderfully made" tattooed on my arm, from the 139th psalm... To remind myself I'm loved and a daughter of God.

For me, this is a reminder of my personal faith and a reminder to reach out instead of harming myself, to remind myself that I have value when I feel worthless, to remind me that my personal faith values (love, kindness, forgiveness, mercy, acceptance) apply to myself as well.

We always say not to wear your diagnosis as a badge but with these symbol tatoos that is exactly what is being done. There is one that those with an eating disorder tatoo on themselves. I would never tatoo my health issues on my body. It is not your identity.

I see it sort of like how LGBT+ folks wear certain symbols. I think it can either be a badge and be some misguided "proud to be gay" or "proud to be bipolar" or whatever sort of thing. Or it can be a matter of raising awareness and showing that you are not ashamed. Since things like mental illness, sexual orientation, etc are not a matter of your character.

Still, though, I believe that symbolism is a very personal thing, and that ink vs no ink is also extremely personal. Raising awareness should have more options than tattooing one's self.

I actually scheduled a consult with my tattoo artist today for this exact tattoo before I saw this thread. Mine is going to be the semi colon within a heart with the EKG (heartbeat) rhythm on both sides of the heart. It may be a fad and cliche, but I also have stars on me that's pretty cliche too. Instead I'm making it meaningful to me as I SH, and have quite a few scars. I want to be able to see it everyday easily, but it'll be small enough that I can cover it up.

I had a tattoo done a couple weeks ago I had planned for months "inhale the future ..exhale the past" and while I was there I had a semicolon done also. I like it and it has much meaning to me.

I've read that it's not necessarily about suicide but rather extending a sentence (your life) to have more meaning than just being depressed or anxious....that you continue to live beyond those things...

I have tattoos, but the only symbol I have is an "om" symbol on my wrist. It means something to me. I wouldn't get the semi colon tattoo because I don't want to have to explain it.

I don't like to explain my tattoos to strangers, if they are rude I've been tempted to make things up, such as every time I have a stranger ask me an intimate question I get another feather on this bird.

Mostly I like being able to enjoy my art on my body and remember where I was, who I was with, and why I had the zany idea to put my own name over my heart like a pasted on name tag at a convention!

If it is helpful to someone then I think it's great.