“What inspired me to get tattoos to cover my scars was so whenever I was down or having a bad day, I could look down at my newly painted arm and remember that overcoming something can lead to beautiful things. My next step is to cover the scars of my other arm and my leg. It’s never easy, but by getting them covered up, it’s a little bit like closure.” — Lauren S.

“I got a Sylvia Plath tattoo. She’s my absolute favorite poet/author. Her quote ‘I am. I am. I am’ (from her book ‘The Bell Jar’) symbolizes that suicide could’ve been the end for me, but I’m here, ‘I am’ I am here, I am alive and I am determined to get through this. The cat is Sylvia’s drawing called ‘Curious French Cat’ and it also symbolizes self-harm and depression — but how it’s not the answer anymore.” — Shannon P.

“I saw this quote back when I was in seventh grade. I knew one day that I will have this tatted on me. I didn’t start self-harming until sophomore year in high school. As a freshmen in college last year, I finally got this quote on my body.” — Zari S.

Typical Hungarian tulip, that we can observe as an element on traditional furniture decoration, used to cover up a deep scar left after an ateroma removal.

Lady came in today with this gnarly scar from skin cancer and all she wanted was to hide it even if it didnt hold up.

“Self-harm was a way I coped with my depressive and suicidal episodes. I would feel all this anger built up inside of me and I wanted to find some kind of release. But with depression, I wanted to hurt myself because I felt like I deserved it. So, my arms would almost be covered in cuts daily. It all started with a small cut as a cry for help, but very quickly turned into an addiction. When I had motivation to get better, I wanted something beautiful on my arm to cover these scars up. Now, I have a tattoo that says ‘This too shall pass’ with a peony that symbolizes healing. Whenever I have urges to self-harm, I instantly look to my arm to where I usually cut and I see this beautiful tattoo with a meaningful message and I just cry it out until the feeling has passed. It has helped me, and has also sparked up the conversation of mental health with others! It’s more than just a tattoo, it’s my journey to recovery.” — Reshmi C.

This is my second tattoo, done on June 5, 2012. I came across this phrase a few months ago and knew right away that I wanted it done. To make a very long story short, I’ve gone through many surgeries, severe allergies, and overall tons of health issues throughout my life (you can sort of see part of my main scar here that goes across my entire stomach and bottom left side). The number one reaction I hate getting is one like “Poor Lauren, that’s so terrible, I feel so bad for you!”. I don’t like to be pitied and felt sorry for over issues that I cannot control. I was born with what life gave me, and I’ve always just dealt with it without sitting around and feeling sorry for myself or wanting pity from others.