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article updated on March 13, 2022
While most tattoos have a story, a self-harm journey tattoo is more than a symptom – it’s a visible reminder. maybe it’s a way to get your body back, giving more context to the story your scars tell. maybe it’s just a way to cover up, to start over and move on from a painful part of your life. Whatever the reason, tattoos can sometimes be a way for people who have self-harmed to commit to their recovery and act as a reminder that self-injurious behaviors can be stopped.
To show some examples, we asked our mental health community to share tattoos they’ve gotten in honor of recovery from self-harm.
This is what they shared with us:
1.
“this is my tattoo! I got it once I graduated from high school to symbolize that I am out of harm’s way and free from the abuse and manipulation as well as the bullying I faced growing up.” — abs h.
2.
“my tattoo is basically a ‘f*ck you’ to suicide. the semicolon represents the times when I could have been done with it all, but moved on. the birds represent each person very important to me that kept me here on this earth. those who never give up no matter how low they go. trying means you are struggling. I want to fight every day.” — ashley n.
3.
“I just got this tattoo a week ago and I still have to get back to the artist to color and finish it. I designed this tattoo as a way to recover my body and skin from self harm. I have had these self harm scars for years and hated how they drew attention and identification. this tattoo is a promise i make to myself that i will sail through the waves of life and not abandon ship when the tide comes in. I’m on my way to adventure, and my scars won’t get in the way.” — melissa k.
4.
“the first at 52 years old. literal heart on my sleeve. don’t lose hope for token attached key. the jewels are tears. the gold is almost oxidized. It took three and a half hours. It was not pain compared to what I still feel on a daily basis. To be really honest, I liked the feeling and the damn control of not needing anyone’s opinion.” — dayna l.
5.
“I have two, both are related to twenty one pilots, but that band has helped me in my darkest moments”. — braelyn s.
6.
“I used to scratch myself and have horrible thoughts of dying constantly. but this helps me remember that I need to love myself every day. No matter what happens, if I don’t love myself, I can’t love anyone else the way they need to.” — keelya g.
7.
“my last, a little reminder. I had depression and social anxiety when I was young and never realized it. Recently, I noticed that whenever a young person comes to talk to me about a mental disorder (I am now the coordinator of a youth group), one of my favorite phrases to say is: “you have to fight for your life”. it’s a little reminder to me of that… no matter what… I have to stand up for myself!” — Alexander B.
8.
“the big one is the lyrics of the dispute, ‘the scars will fade but they will never go away’. the one on my wrist is a semicolon, to remind me to move on and that my story isn’t over yet. the akf is for the jared padalecki campaign, always keep fighting.” — jey s.
9.
“This picture was taken the day I got the tattoo, so please excuse the redness on my arm. this tattoo is actually a quote from my favorite song by my favorite band (“reaper man” by mother mother, in case anyone was wondering!). mother mother music was sometimes the only thing I could really relate to in my darkest hours; They helped me feel less alone in my struggle and gave me hope that I could succeed in life despite being a mental wreck.” — carson eileen a.
10.
“I recently started talking about my mental health and got this tattoo this week. it’s not just a reminder: warriors never stop fighting. That is why it reminds me that I must never stop fighting.” — chelsea s.
11.
“I designed this tattoo to cover up the first set of scars I made in my junior years of high school. I got this after two years without self harm, to symbolize the strength and stamina I needed to work my way through recovery. I’m still recovering every day, and having this reminder of the struggle I’ve already endured helps me not fall back into old habits.” — melissa k.
12.
“I got this tattoo of a pencil, pen and brush over old scars. For me, it represents my recovery and how I learned that writing and painting helped me cope. the pencil symbolizes my time in an inpatient psychiatric hospital, where I was only allowed to have small golf pencils for writing. the pen symbolizes when I got out of the hospital and was in the ambulatory (I was finally allowed to use a pen!) and then the brush symbolizes my recovery as a whole since I learned that painting helped me cope with emotions.” — ashton p.
13.
“I started self-harming when I was in high school. I am now completely out of school, haven’t self-harmed in a long time and am about to become a mom! I have learned through the battles that I continue to face every day that bad times, thoughts, emotions, feelings… everything negative basically passes. Even when I feel like it’s the end of the world, it’s going to happen.” — Julia D.
14.
“This owl covers up a big scar on my wrist so I don’t have to share my terrible secret with everyone who always asks what happened. I’m not ashamed of what I did, but I also don’t want to remember the dark time that took me there. My life is so full of love and joy now that I don’t want to stain it with the bad.” — kim m.
15.
“I got this tattoo a couple of weeks ago but I’ve wanted it for as long as I can remember… I got it on my left wrist where most of the self harm scars are so it’s a reminder of the bad times I went through and it’s also a reminder that I can get through even harder times. I also have a small hope that the tattoo is a motivation for my brain to produce more serotonin lol. — kate m.
16.
“I got this tree to remind me not to bang my head and to think positively and compassionately about myself. It’s also a reminder to treat myself well and give my body what it needs: good nutrition, rest, exercise, sleep. the tree is a symbol that we work with in therapy. it is a place where I can sit and rest and get away from my negative thoughts.” — kerstin s.
17.
“the ‘hope’ and ‘love’ were written by the drummer and lead singer of we the kings respectively. They cover old scars and are reminders that there is hope and love in the world. That band got me through the worst years. In addition, I get tattoos on my arms to avoid relapses.” — grayce r.
18.
“I like to think that something beautiful can pass for bad things. like a rose it may have some thorns, but it can still be beautiful. we may have some scars, but we are still beautiful.” — kailey d.
19.
“my latest tattoo is a quote from the all time low song, ‘missing you’. It talks about how when you feel so alone and lost in the world, never give up and keep fighting. It was released after I met the band, and they hugged me so tight when they saw my arms and talked to me about it. alex and jack told me to never give up, and that things will pass in time, and that i can recover. when the song was released, it spoke to me on every level. Now I look at this tattoo every time I feel like giving up and remember that my heroes are supporting my recovery 100 percent.” — abby a.
20.
“song lyrics from two songs that got me through some dark hours.” — jess d.
21.
“‘Even on my weakest days, I get a little stronger’ in my arm.” — jaclyn c.
22.
“‘stay strong’; Of course the semicolon is for the semicolon project, but I got this when I promised myself I’d stay strong. when I want to self-harm, I look down and remind myself that I have to stay strong and that my story is nowhere near over yet.” — morgan l.
23.
“this is part of a quote from sylvia plath. It helps ground me, so I don’t feel like self-harming.” — jalayne s.
24.
“My best friend and I got a semicolon tattoo for my journey through self-harm and suicide attempts.” — taylor b.
25.
“what my boyfriend tells me to calm me down”. — breanna b.
26.
“I got this quote from an episode of ‘my supposed life’. this was probably one of my favorite tb shows in high school. i was diagnosed with depression and then panic disorder during my college years. this quote always got me it got attention because even though i wasn’t diagnosed at the time i always felt different from my peers but now that i’m older and understand my disorders better i’ve realized that each person is unique being complicated is what makes us and that is the most beautiful thing there is.” — Sherene B.
27.
“my semicolon not only represents surviving my suicide attempt last year, but it reminds me every day of the hope that exists…despite the struggle when emotions run high and urges to self-harm arise . I recently relapsed into self-harm and looking at my tattoo reminds me that it’s okay to keep moving forward in recovery after a relapse.” — tc.
28.
“the tattoo I got to remind me that I can continue no matter what happens”. — k.l.
29.
“this is my first tattoo, used to cover a scar. I chose the semicolon because of my history of suicide and my mentor would say the words to me as an affirmation all the time when I was in pain. it’s in my lyrics to remind me that I’m strong.” — mae
30.
“these are lyrics from alesia cara’s ‘scars to your beautiful’ that were played during some of my darkest moments. I got them tattooed with paw prints to represent my dogs and dandelions to represent dreams to remind me not to give up just yet.” — mae
31.
“When I started my borderline personality recovery process, I decided to get a tattoo after a year of treatment. As a tribute to Marsha Linehan and my time in Dialectical Behavior Therapy, I decided to include the phrase “a life worth living.” the tattoo also includes a semicolon, notes my journey to recovery and is written in a friend’s handwriting to ‘always with me.’” — megan g.
