Project Semicolon; Designed to Represent and Support Loved Ones With Mental Illness or a Loss from Suicide.

A semicolon is a pause in a sentence, not the end of one.
That's why Amy Bleuel selected it for her mental health awareness campaign, Project Semicolon. The non-profit encourages people to draw (or tattoo) semicolons on their bodies as a way to represent and support those dealing with mental illness or loss of someone from suicide.

 

Bleuel's father committed suicide in 2003. Ten years later, she launched Project Semicolon in 2013.
"I wanted to tell my story to inspire others to tell their story. I wanted to start a conversation that can't be stopped, a conversation about mental illness and suicide so we can address it and lower those rates," she said.
The semicolon is intended to encourage people to keep going in life.
"A semicolon is used when an author could've chosen to end their sentence, but chose not to. The author is you and the sentence is your life," according to a statement on Project Semicolon's website.
Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the USA, according to the most recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2013, there were 41,149 reported deaths from suicide.
The conversation Bleuel started took off and continues today with people taking photos of their tattoos and drawings and uploading them to social media with the hashtag #projectsemicolon or #semicolonproject.
"It's impacted people who struggle with self-harm, addiction and suicide, as well as people who have lost people from suicide and addiction. It's attracted everyone," Bleuel said.