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Mental health and tattoos are not usually associated with each other. Therefore most people don’t really think of mental health tattoos as a thing. Much less there being multiple types of mental health tattoos. Honestly, I hadn’t really considered it before last week. Even though I have encountered them in the past, I really never considered them to be their own culture of tattooing. Yet a quick search really opened my eyes to this subculture of tattoos.
Seeing as I am currently working on the story of my lifelong struggles with ADHD and it’s nowhere near ready I wanted to put a focus on mental health tattoos. After all, I went into deep detail about what ADHD is last week.
So to continue with that this week we will focus on the different types of mental health tattoos.
Abstract Symbolism
Honestly, these are some of the coolest tattoos I’ve ever seen. It doesn’t even matter what style they are done in. The abstract concept being used to symbolize mental struggles is something that I’ve seen used a lot more often in recent years.
When you first look at one of these tattoos chances are you wouldn’t know what it symbolizes. It just looks cool. Others you might never know unless you ask the person who has it. These are some of my favourite tattoos in general.
Butterfly
The butterfly tattoo is one of the most overdone tattoos ever. It was huge around the same time that the tramp stamp was a thing. Every person I have ever met who has one has said they only get it because they like butterflies.
That being said I do feel that they deserve a place among the types of mental health tattoos. After all, butterflies have been a symbol of transformation for ages. The transformation from caterpillar to butterfly can be pretty ugly and gross. The transformation one goes through in their mental health journey can be as well.
So using a butterfly to remind yourself of the transformation you’ve gone through, are going through, or will go through will be worth it. After all, the end result is quite beautiful.
Direct/Concrete Symbolism
Instead of using abstract art to symbolize mental health, these tattoos are direct as hell. You immediately know what they are meant to mean from the first time you look at them. Sometimes this is just art; other times it is art with script integrated into it. These tattoos strike the mental health journey right at its heart.
Fingers Crossed
Although not often considered to be a type of mental health tattoo I understand why it could be. In fact, I understand it so much that I put it on this list.
To some people crossing your fingers behind your back is a sign of someone being less than truthful. However to most people, at least in the west, crossing your fingers is something you do when you are hoping for something with your whole heart.
So using the fingers crossed tattoo for hope or as a reminder to never lose faith makes perfect sense to me.
Green Ribbon
The green ribbon has long been the symbol of mental health awareness. Just as many people wear the pink ribbon in October for breast cancer awareness many people wear a green ribbon in May.
This may be the most direct way to say you support people with mental health problems even if you don’t have any yourself. It helps bring awareness to a serious problem that plagues many people.
Quotes
Quotes are another of those overdone tattoos. That being said there are some really good quotes about mental health. Hell, there are a few that have helped me get through some of the tough times in my own journey.
I can wholeheartedly understand why someone would want to get something that helped them through a hard time inscribed on their body.
Scientific Compound Structure
These tattoos have only really gathered popularity recently. I have seen very few of them in the wild. Even less that could be considered connected to mental health. However, I find this to be one of the coolest tattoo types I have ever seen.
If you’ve read a lot of stuff surrounding Nomadic Inscriptions then you know how we pick and get our tattoos. However, this is something that I have been considering getting done myself. I have been thinking about getting a cool variation of the dopamine compound for a very long time. Maybe even integrate the logo with it, who knows?
Only Script
Although tattoos that are only script are fairly overdone they tend to be different from the aforementioned quotes in a couple of ways. First, they tend to be shorter, normally topping out at a few words or a short phrase. Second, they tend to be well-known sayings that aren’t quotes.
However, the word script is also used to reference how the words themselves are written. Therefore quotes can also be considered script tattoos.
Semicolon
The Semicolon is, bar far, the most recognizable type of mental health tattoo. It’s also the one type of tattoo that I have run into the most when it comes to being directly linked to mental health.
Back in 2013, a nonprofit named Project Semicolon was founded with the primary goal of suicide prevention. In 2015 the semicolon tattoo became a viral phenomenon that was directly in conjunction with Project Semicolon’s movement. It’s become so synonymous that Project Semicolon has an entire page dedicated to directly addressing tattoo artists who support this movement.
Aside from the movement started by Project Semicolon, I find the semicolon so very fitting. As a writer I have been attempting to integrate it into my writing properly; The semicolon is, after all, a tool used by writers when they have chosen not to end a sentence; even though they very well could have.
The Type Of Tattoo That Claims To Be A Mental Health Tattoo That We Disagree With: The Anchor Tattoo
I was shocked when I found that some websites, such as merakilane.com, were stating that the anchor tattoo was a type of mental health tattoo. Putting aside that the anchor is one of the most overdone tattoos of all time their reasoning just hurt me.
The reasoning across the websites I found that consider anchor tattoos to be mental health tattoos all had the same base logic. It can be summed up as “a reminder to stay strong and never sink when life gets hard.”
The reason this bothered me so much is that the whole point of an anchor is to sink. If the logic was a reminder to, I don’t know, not drift away or remain anchored I’d be down. Yet the “never sink” thing just gets to me.
Let’s Clean It Then Wrap It Up
All of our research into this topic has brought us to the conclusion that these are the main types of mental health tattoos. However, mental health is a personal struggle. Therefore any tattoo that you get that you consider to be a mental health tattoo is one.
Even though I slightly criticize the anchor tattoo the truth is who am I to say what is and isn’t a good fit for mental health tattoos? Mental health is a personal struggle and journey. So if it means something to you then you’re the only real authority on whether it symbolizes that journey or struggle to you.
As I mentioned I am still working on writing my own story. Unfortunately, I still haven’t decided whether I will be sharing that on this site. However, I never intended mental health to be one of the main focuses of Nomadic Inscriptions. I built Nomadic Inscriptions to be focused on travel, tattoos, and the intersection of those two things.
So to avoid the very real chance that I might get lost in posts about mental health or ADHD I will be limiting posts focusing on mental health to May. After all, May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Chances are I might even post a bit more than usual in May to cover as much as possible. In true Nomadic Inscriptions fashion, I will probably be tying much of it in with tattoos and travel.
However for now I’ll leave you with the promise that I will always be open and authentic with you.
Until next time, stay authentic, stay Nomadic, and let the world inscribe itself upon you more than you inscribe yourself upon it.
