Why are people getting semicolon tattoos?

A semicolon can be used when a sentence could come to an end, but instead continues. (For example: "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog; it keeps running into the bushes"). People who suffer from mental illness have now taken on the punctuation symbol on as a metaphor for a moment when a person contemplates suicide - in other words, thinks about ending the story of their life - and yet they continue through their difficulties.

Project Semicolon began as a call for people to draw a ";" on their body to highlight a range of mental health issues including depression, suicide, addiction and self-harm. Many are now making the marks permanent, with semicolon tattoos.

The group describes itself as a "faith-based movement," however founder Amy Bleuel says it's inclusive of people of all faiths and identities but they "just wanted to be open about their own beliefs."

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Video Journalist: Neil Meads

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