Tattooing and Mental Illness While tattoos can have a positive impact on a person's mental health, they can also be used to cope with mental illness. For people with depression, anxiety, and other mental health conditions, tattoos can serve as a way to feel empowered and in control of their lives.
Psychiatric disorders, such as antisocial personality disorder, drug or alcohol abuse and borderline personality disorder, are frequently associated with tattoos. Finding a tattoo on physical examination should alert the physician to the possibility of an underlying psychiatric condition.
Self-Expression And Identity
One of the most common motivations for getting a tattoo is self-expression. Tattoos can be a way for individuals to showcase their personalities, beliefs, and values. For example, a person may get a tattoo of their favourite quote or symbol that holds personal meaning.
Popular mental health tattoos and their meanings
Butterflies: symbolizing transformation and growth, reflecting the journey towards recovery and healing. Infinity symbols: symbolizing the never-ending journey towards mental wellness. Inspirational quotes or words: represent motivation, strength, and encouragement.
Depression tattoos are becoming more and more popular. People are getting depression tattoos for various reasons – to help with their mental health or to commemorate a loved one who has died from suicide. Still, most people agree that they offer some benefits regarding mental health.
Psychiatric in-patients with tattoos appear to have a more chaotic and deprived upbringing than non-tattooed controls. This includes more time spent in children's homes, fewer years of education and younger age on leaving home (Reference Buhrich and MorrisBuhrich 1982).
Studies about the Healing Power of Tattoos
A new Texas Tech University study suggests that women with multiple tattoos have higher self-esteem, but also more troubled pasts. The study tentatively concludes that tattoos basically serve as a coping mechanism that can successfully raise levels of self-esteem.
"Spiritual tattoos — mandala, hamsa, chakra, tree of life, Budha, lotus, etc. — are common for battling anxiety. They symbolize the overcoming of struggle, protection, self care, rebirth, the circle of life, kindness, strength, new challenges, and new beginnings."
Many people opt to tattoo the words 'breathe' or 'inhale, exhale' somewhere prominent on their bodies, like their inner wrist or the top of their hand, as a visual reminder to be more mindful of their breathing pattern when anxious thoughts and feelings arise.
Anxiety semicolon tattoo meaning: anxiety feminine semicolon tattoos are a great way to represent suicide awareness and one of the simplest tattoos for mental health.
These determine people's capacity to confront situations and adapt to the circumstances. For better or for worse, tattooed people are typically associated with: being extrovert, have a rich social life, or the necessity to feel unique and stand out from the of the people.
According to a study 22% (of 540 individuals) possessed at least one tattoo. Further analyses showed that, compared with non-tattooed individuals, tattooed participants had significantly higher scores on extraversion, experience seeking, need for uniqueness, and held more positive attitudes toward tattoos.
Research from the UK, US, Australia, Canada and surveys by notable organizations report that 78% of tattooed people regret at least one of them. In the US alone, 23% felt regret. Half of these regrets were due to tattooing someone's name, as revealed by a British study. WebMD states that 11% have sought removal.
But out of 25% of the total number of participants, who reported growing up with significant abuse or neglect, as many as 48% had either a tattoo or a piercing or both. The more severe the abuse or neglect they faced, the more tattoos or piercings the participants had, according to the researchers.
Kertzman et al. (2019) investigated the differences in self-esteem between women with and without tattoos. They determined that tattooed women displayed a greater difference between their real and ideal self, which was interpreted as evidence of their low self-esteem.
Specifically, he said that people who get tattoos are looking for attention that they feel they are not currently receiving, further noting that you do not get a tattoo for people to not look.
The three dots used to represent the phrase “mi vida loca”, which means “my crazy life” in Spanish, signified a willingness to live a life of crime and violence. But today, it can simply remind you to live your best life.
But for some anxiety sufferers, tattoos have a place in their healing journey. If they can mark their bodies with reminders, and turn to those reminders in their darkest times, maybe they can loosen anxiety's grip or at least breathe through the grasp.
Many people choose to represent their mental health journeys with a semicolon tattoo; the semicolon serves as a symbol of mental health awareness as well as suicide prevention.
What Is The Tattoo Symbol For PTSD? July 9, 2022. IGY6 stands for I Got Your Six Teal is PTSD awareness, black is for the heavy hearts that many of us carry, those who suffer from PTSD and those who have lost loved ones to suicide because of PTSD. The red is a symbol of the blood that has been shed.
Grey. According to color psychology, the color grey implies a dark state of mind, a colorless and monotonous life; grey is also associated with misery and depression, so it is easy to see why it is a color that is known to cause anxiety.
Our latest study shows one in four Australians has a tattoo (25%) – a record high. This is up from 20% in 2018 and 19% in 2016. The proportion of women with a tattoo now exceeds that of men by more than ten per cent (31% women compared to 19% men).
One interesting new motivation guiding individuals to get tattooed is a potential healing or therapeutic benefit. The field of art therapy explores how art can facilitate healing and the therapeutic process.
Here are the most common reasons why people regret their tattoos: impulsive decision (35 percent), significant meaning (29 percent), or the idea that it would make them look cool (18 percent). The more thoughtful and careful you are about your tattoo, the less likely you are to regret it.