Semicolon Tattoo Movement Raise Awareness About Mental Illness

The grammatical symbol semicolon that is usually used to denote the continuation of a sentence has now taken on a bigger role.

The Semicolon Project attempts to raise awareness on mental health issues and explains its intentions by saying "The sentence is your life and the author is you."

The project was started in 2013 by Amy Bleuel to honor her father after he committed suicide. Bleuel has had her own battles with depression and decided to use the semicolon as a symbol of hope for people who are struggling.

"I started it to honor my father," Bleuel told USA TODAY Network. "And to tell my story of my struggle with mental illness."

"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.

"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.

The conversation kick-started by Bleuel gained traction over the last few months and recently went viral with many people uploading photos of their tattoos on various social media sites 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.