Mental Health Awareness: To Help Stop the Stigma, I'm Sharing My Tattoo & Its Meaning by Heather Holter

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, but honestly, every month should be. One in five of us suffer with a mental health condition. Mine is social anxiety. I used to be secretive about it because I was ashamed and felt like it was my fault. I also felt judged and defined by it. NO MORE. It is time to stand up, speak out and stop the stigma!

I recently got a tattoo as a testament to my struggle (see picture above). The saying is self-explanatory. I love it because it implies that brokenness doesn't make us inferior; it opens us up to that which makes us better! The original design I liked was the cross, heartbeat and heart. It means faith, hope and love. The semicolon tattoo typically means "my story isn't over yet" and signifies a continuation after a struggle or traumatic event or situation, often mental illness. I wanted to incorporate them all together, so I came up with this design.

I see it as a whole to mean faith, life, pause to indicate a struggle, continue life despite struggle, love. The saying goes with it because the struggle makes us broken, but we continue because of the light created during and after the struggle. Neat, huh?

How will you help stop the stigma of mental health? 

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