CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) RESOURCE CENTER Read More
Add To Favorites

Semicolon movement wants to bring mental illness out of the shadows

La Crosse Tribune (WI) - 7/10/2015

July 10--Kelley Kienlen of La Crosse was awestruck when she read about Project Semicolon on Facebook.

"I was just like, 'Finally, there is something out there that represents me, how I feel and what I feel,'" Kienlen said.

The nationwide project, started two years ago by Amy Bleuel of Green Bay, Wis., encourages people struggling with mental illness or suicidal thoughts to draw or tattoo a semicolon on themselves, symbolizing the choice to keep going.

"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," Bleuel said.

Kienlen got the semicolon tattooed on her arm Thursday at Mind Altering Tattoos in La Crosse to symbolize her struggle with chronic mental illness.

Since starting therapy in 1999, Kienlen has been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, depression and chronic anxiety. However, her biggest struggle has been the compulsion to hurt herself.

"I'm 39. I've been a self-mutilator since I was 7," Kienlen said.

With the help of therapy, Kienlen stopped cutting herself last November, but she doesn't hide the scars that cover her arms or shy away from talking about her first suicide attempt, which was while she was a college student in Wyoming. She asked her tattoo artist, Zane Decker, to place her blue semicolon on her wrist next to the scar tissue.

"This is a symbol that my life is not over. It's a continuance," Kienlen said.

The symbol gives her strength in her fight against her addiction to cutting.

"If I get thoughts of self-harm, I can look down," Kienlen said.

Kienlen expects the symbol to draw people's attention and get them talking about mental illness.

"When someone asks me, 'What's that?' I can tell them," Kienlen said.

Kienlen hopes to eventually reach out to help young people struggling with their mental health, though she said she plans to wait until she's further along in her recovery. Her own struggles with addiction and self-harm left her with lessons to share.

"I know how hard it is," Kienlen said.

Kienlen has started small, talking candidly with her 15-year-old son, who struggles with similar problems.

"He's drawing (the semicolon) on his own arm," Kienlen said.

Kienlen has also inspired several of her friends to consider tattoos of their own.

"I can't believe it. It's amazing that people listened," Kienlen said.

The snowball effect is what Bleuel hoped for when she started the project on April 16, 2013, in honor of her father, Mark Burg, who committed suicide.

"I want to start a conversation that can't be stopped," Bleuel said.

Bleuel is fighting to end the taboo against speaking about mental illness, addiction and self-injury. Bleuel said several high profile news stories have contributed to a stigma against those who suffer from mental illness, making people assume they will be violent.

"These people arrive there because of an issue that wasn't addressed. We need to address this issue so that we don't keep arriving at the exact same point," Bleuel said.

Bleuel said many people who suffer from chronic mental illness feel isolated by that stigma.

"I deal with depression, I deal with anxiety, so I just wanted to raise awareness and show other people they are not alone," Bleuel said.

Bleuel hopes to travel and bring her message to those who need it, especially through faith-based programs.

"We want to open up views for people in the church, because it's not talked about a lot in the church. I've struggled with some churches and how they address it, but I know some churches can address it fantastically," Bleuel said.

Bleuel, a member of the nondenominational Spring Lake Church in Green Bay, said her decision to start the nonprofit group was motivated by her faith in God.

"I just want to express the love and compassion of Jesus Christ," Bleuel said.

Bleuel stressed that the movement doesn't exclude anyone based on their faith -- or lack of faith.

"I just want to be there for those kids that struggle and feel like they are struggling alone and there's no place to go because they can't talk about it," Bleuel said.

Bleuel isn't sure where the idea of the semicolon came from; she's certainly not an English nerd.

"My father would be more of the grammar nerd," Bleuel said.

However, she loves the symbolism.

"It's simple, but powerful," Bleuel said.

Project Semicolon is not affiliated with the similarly-named The Semicolon Tattoo Project, which raises money to support The Agora Crisis Center in Albuquerque, N.M. For more information or to help out, visit projectsemicolon.com.

___

(c)2015 the La Crosse Tribune (La Crosse, Wis.)

Visit the La Crosse Tribune (La Crosse, Wis.) at www.lacrossetribune.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.