10 Ways Tattoos Are Being Used As A Form Of Therapy

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What everyone sees: I'm fine What I see: save me • – "Today, I am coming out with something that only few of you know. I am ready to have a conversation about my mental illness. Last year, I was diagnosed with depression. And in all honesty, I believe it was a problem for quite a while before that, but I think it just got worse to the point of hardly functioning. So today, I got this tattoo. I feel that my leg was the best place for the meaning behind it. When everyone else sees it, they see “I’m fine,” but from my viewpoint, it reads “save me.” To me, it means that others see this person that seems okay, but, in reality, is not okay at all. It reminds me that people who may appear happy, may be at battle with themselves. This is one of the most difficult things to open up about because it’s extremely hard for me to feel vulnerable…but this needs to be talked about. Mental illness is serious, but so shamed in our society. We care so much for our physical health, but hardly a thing about our mental state. And that is seriously messed up. Mental illness is not a choice and will likely hit everyone at some point in their life. If it’s such a huge issue, why aren’t we having this conversation about it? That’s why I got this tattoo; they are great conversation starters. This forces me to talk about my own struggle, and why the awareness of it is important. You’d be surprised by how many people YOU know that struggle with depression, anxiety, or other mental illness. I may only be one person, but one can save another…and that's all I could really ask for. " – Please take the time to read the full post about the meaning behind this tattoo on Bekah Miles's Facebook page. Instagram doesn't allow captions as long as her post but I think everyone should take a few minutes to go and read about it!

A post shared by Tattoo Inspiration Page (@tattooinkspiration) on Aug 29, 2015 at 4:07pm PDT

Mental Illness

Some people living with mental illness like bipolar disorder or depression get tattoos for motivation – to remind themselves to take each day as it comes.  Or, they get a tattoo to claim ownership over their illness.