By Sarah Schuster
Staff
Mental Illness
03/29/17
Amy Bleuel, known in the mental health community as the person behind the popular semicolon tattoo, passed away on Thursday, March 23 at the age of 31, Project Semicolon confirmed to The Mighty on Wednesday.Update March 30 8:45 a.m. PST: The Mighty has confirmed Amy died by suicide. Please when reporting on this story, refer to Recommendations for Reporting on Suicide. For whoever needs help right now, you can contact the Crisis Text Line by texting “START” to 741-741, or call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.3048
If you see a semicolon as more than just punctuation, you probably know Amy. Her movement, called Project Semicolon, is a global nonprofit dedicated to presenting hope and love for those who are struggling with mental illness, suicide, addiction and self-injury.
She told The Mighty in 2015, “In literature, an author uses a semicolon to not end a sentence but to continue on. We see it as you are the author and your life is the sentence. You’re choosing to keep going.”
The semicolon manifested in both drawings and tattoos and quickly became a sign of hope for those who struggled with self-harm and suicidal thoughts.
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This makes me feel sad. Two years ago I got my semi-colon tattoo. I felt like my life still had meaning. I also got the number of attempts tattoo’d beneath it. I wanted a reminder to tell myself that I had tried and failed. I also got the words “I’m still here” to signify that while I’ve tried, I’m still here among the living.
She may have lost her battle with this invisible disease, but I’m struggling with mine. Each day is a new battle, but I’m facing it head first. I’ve had a rough last couple weeks. Found out I may have to have surgery again on my sinuses, may have to have my tonsils taken out along with the nose surgery. Then I found out that a procedure that I’ve been wanting for a while won’t be covered by my insurance so that was heart breaking. So needless to say, the last few weeks haven’t been all that friendly and nice to me.
But on another note, I’m on some new meds. So we all know that it takes at least 3-6 months to see the effects. So it’s only been two months, so I’m hoping I feel good and somewhat better soon.
