However, this tattoo can be turned into a full back piece using elements to honor your alcohol-free lifestyle. The process of recovering from drinking is a very personal one, and in several cases, your tattoo is as well. Several tattoos are considered as a universal representation of sobriety.

MensHealth.com asked 8 guys to share the tattoos inspired by their personal struggles. These are their tattoos — and the powerful stories behind them. In the context of grammar, a semicolon is used to combine two complete sentences that are related. In other words, a semicolon means that the thought is not quite over even though the sentence is—there’s still more to come. That sentiment is the ethos of Project Semicolon, a nonprofit dedicated to raising awareness about mental health, self-harm, suicide, and addiction.

Anchor Tattoo

“Sometimes my youngest brother would come into my room at night crying and asking if our mom was going to die,” he says. “We would lay in bed and just cry together. It all took its toll on me.” This is perfect for cat lovers, but you can also adjust it to feature another shape, depending on your interests. At first glance, this simple design appears to https://ecosoberhouse.com/article/what-spiritual-malady-means/ be nothing more than a sunflower, but upon further inspection, you’ll notice a semicolon takes residence within the flower’s stem. She has worked in digital media for over five years and is an expert on a range of topics, including tattoos, piercings, and culture. Her work can be seen across the web on Backstage Magazine, Merry Jane, Vulture, and more.

• The bee tattoo, which has been inked with a beautiful shade of yellow, quite literally says bee positive; got the pun?
• When talking about tattoos, butterflies often reflect transformation as they have turned from a caterpillar to an attractive winged insect.
• First, run your tattoo design by your selected tattoo artist to invite feedback and explore how appropriate they are to achieve it.

This Big Bang-themed design sees a dinosaur-laden Earth colliding with an asteroid. Together, the shapes mimic a semicolon, but with a fun, cartoonish meaningful sobriety tattoos twist. This paint splatter design draws extra attention to the semicolon and allows the wearer to rock all their favorite hues of the rainbow.

Choose Yourself

I couldn’t imagine getting hooked on something that was not only expensive, but painful and permanent. Fast forward to 2019, and I’ve since gotten two more tattoos, each one progressively larger and more detailed, and I’m already planning my fourth, fifth, sixth, etc. If a tattoo has been a major source of enchantment for you, you can try to recapture or improve that feeling by adding another, even more breathtaking tattoo. Or you can refresh your taste for the tattoo and the life you already have. That would involve trying to rethink and refeel who you are, creating a substitute for what you miss, or coming up with a fresh story for your life. I can see why the idea of addiction would appeal to someone feeling ambivalent about adding another tattoo, since addiction could mean there’s a strong, even irresistible psychophysiological force at work.

There is a vast range of mental health tattoo designs and styles. Your mental health tattoo could be an illustration or script, and your decision should also consider the color, size, and placement of the tattoo you want. Before you dive in, a little research will help you explore and inspire your own design choice. A semi colon tattoo is usually meant to provide solidarity to someone who has committed suicide, sometimes due to mental health issues or problems arising from drug overdose. It represents one standing for suffering and fight against stigma.