Tattoos & Mental Health

Published in

Understanding Millennials

11 min readApr 30, 2019

An article from Understanding Millennials: For parents who want better relationships with their Millennial children

The gap between Millennials (born roughly between 1982–2000) and their Baby Boomer parents (born roughly between 1946–1964) is the greatest generational gap in recent history.

This article is part of the publication Understanding Millennials and discusses the following:

How do I deal with my child getting a tattoo?
Latest statistics and research on public perceptions of tattoos
How tattoos influence career prospects
Who’s getting tattoos and why?
What’s the relation between tattoos and mental health?

My son/daughter wants to get a tattoo. How do I convince them not to do it?

Oh no, a tattoo! Only gangsters and rebels have that! My sweet child… don’t!

Before you start creating a list of reasons why this is a terrible decision, consider the following:

Would you risk isolating your child if your immediate reaction is that of disapproval?
Have you asked your son/daughter about their motivations for getting a tattoo? Could this be an opportunity to better understand them and their worldview?
Is the tattoo a rash decision or something that has been carefully considered?
Is it possible that societal perceptions of tattoos have changed in the past 10–20 years?

As a concerned parent, you might like to consider the social climate your child has grown up in, and how that influences their behaviour and decision-making.

Let’s look at some changes in the past generation:

Globalisation & the Internet has given us exposure to a wider world view, facilitating understanding of perspectives beyond our immediate sociocultural bubble
Globalisation is the global movement of trade, people, knowledge, and culture. Technological advances in the past 10–20 years have given us unprecedented exposure to ideas and practices that aren’t our own, allowing us to take a macro-understanding of reality instead of a limited micro-view.
Movement towards gender equality
There is still lots more to be done, but we’re gaining traction.
A basic example: While a Baby Boomer might assume a woman in a lab coat is a nurse, it now shouldn’t be surprising that she is in fact a doctor.
Voluntarily putting personal information on the Internet
This would’ve been unthinkable previously, but now sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, and WeChat have more information on us than we’ll ever know.
Running an entire business without a storefront and buying things off a stranger online
eBay, Amazon, Alibaba… need we say more?
Death of the newspaper
While you might not be able to imagine life without your morning coffee and newspaper, only 5% of millennials get their news by print, yet they are the most informed and connected generation that has ever existed.
Changing nature of work and the workplace
The workplace is increasingly adapting to the individual, not vice-versa. Millennials value flexible working arrangements and the workplace is responding accordingly: e.g. relaxed dress codes; the rise of remote working; flat management structures taking over traditional hierarchies.
We’re all glued to a small screen in our pockets
Admit it… you’ve probably snapped a photo of your meal before eating it. What would your parents say about that!
And… yep, tattoos are now mainstream (and the stats don’t lie)
According to The Atlantic, the number of people with at least one tattoo increased from about 6% in 1936 to about 21% in 2012. In 2018, about 40% of the global population has a tattoo.

Current Perceptions of Tattoos

Welcome to 2019 where university professors, bankers, CEOs, and even policemen have tattoos. While tattoos used to be a subversive form of expression, this now couldn’t be further from the truth.

Did you know that an average of 40% of the global population have tattoos?

The idea that tattoos are “bad” is about as outdated as ideas like “women belong in the kitchen” or that coming into work with a t-shirt and jeans is “anti-establishment”.

According to Reuters, tattoos have moved into the cultural mainstream:

There’s been a total global shift in attitude (of the public’s attitude toward ink)…
Once upon a time, people associated it with criminals and bikers and punks, but now it’s mainstream really… it’s on a completely different level to where it was 10 years ago.

Tattoos have been normalised. The idea that they are a sign of rebellion no longer holds any validity.

Michelle Myles, a New York tattoo artist who has been in the industry for 25 years, shares her first-hand experience:

Tattooing was just such an outsider thing when I first started. It wasn’t something that was mainstream. It wasn’t acceptable, especially for women. You didn’t even really see that many people that were heavily tattooed. Now, no matter where you go, people are exposed to it. Even if you go to more conservative areas, they get the same tattoo reality-TV shows, and are much more aware of the industry. As far as types of people go, literally everyone has tattoos now.

But I’m afraid getting a tattoo will hurt my son/daughter’s career prospects…

According to the Harvard Business Review, having tattoos does not hurt one’s job prospects. While some studies do suggest that tattoos are perceived negatively in the workplace, most of these are more than a decade old. “Since then, body art has gained much more acceptance as a form of personal expression, just like your clothing, jewellery, or hairstyle.”

The Sydney Morning Herald reveals that tattoos are the “new normal”. According to recruiters, employers are now far more accepting of ink. In fact, lawyers warn employers about the dangers of rejecting candidates because of their tattoos, explaining that doing so could be breaking laws on discrimination. This means that discriminating someone based on tattoos could have similar legal penalties to discrimination based on gender, age, or race!

This global study conducted by international universities also indicates that having tattoos no longer restrict job prospects. Andrew Timming, Associate Professor of Human Resource Management, at UWA Business School says:

[People with tattoos] earn just as much as people without tattoos and are just as likely to be employed. Public perceptions toward tattoos have changed very quickly, with more and more people embracing body art.
This may be explained by the fact that many young people have gotten tattoos in the last coupled decades, and as they age, they become managers and decision-makers. They are therefore more accepting of body art than their older colleagues.

It is likely that their interviewer or employer has tattoos themselves!

Who are the people getting tattoos?

This study by Dalia Research uncovers some unexpected insights. In this global study of almost 10,000 people, it is revealed that tattoos are more popular among:

Women (40%) than men (36%)
Those with higher levels of education (32%) than those with lower levels of education (26%)
The urban population (32%) than the rural population (26%)
People aged 30–49 (45%) than those aged 14 to 29 (32%) and those over 50 (28%)

Why do people get tattoos?

People get tattoos for a variety of reasons:

Sentimental tributes or dedications
e.g. Death anniversary, portrait of grandparent
Marking significant life events
e.g. Birth of child, wedding anniversary
Reminder of personal success or triumphs
e.g. Overcoming hardship, surviving suicide attempts, winning a championship
Symbolising strength and hope; representing new beginnings; healing from trauma
e.g. Covering up self-harm scars, personal affirmations
Artistic value/aesthetics
Similar to getting a piercing, getting a cosmetic tattoo (e.g. eyeliner, eyebrows), or laser hair removal
Life experiences
e.g. A memory from each place you’ve travelled to
No particular reason
For many people, each tattoo represents the moment in life they were at when they got it, so it doesn’t have to have a profound reason, but will always stay true as a memory etched in time, part of their personal history and reality

What’s the relation between tattoos and mental health? How do tattoos influence one’s quality of life?

Tattoos often have a lot of personal significance and can greatly help those suffering from mental health issues such as depression and anxiety.

While most people don’t need a reminder of reasons to wake up in the morning or why their life is worth living, these are issues that some individuals struggle with on a daily basis.

While tattoos might be a purely aesthetic decision for some, for others, it could be a major way of creating their identity, accepting their body, gaining self-esteem, and coping with daily life. While these things might seem like a given for most, it is a constant battle for those who suffer from mental health issues such as eating disorders, self-harm, bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder, depression, dissociative identity disorder, anxiety, and more. Tattoos which contain special significance therefore have the power to heal and even save these people from self-harm or suicide.

Ari Lentini investigates how tattoos help people cope with mental illnesses, and provides a personal narrative.

For herself, her body had been a huge source of suffering her whole life. Tattoos gave her a way to take back control of her body, and to relearn to love it after fighting to get healthy.
A young man’s back tattoo boosted his self-esteem, helped with his depression, provided a new way to deal with panic attacks, and stopped him from self-harming entirely.
A young woman explains her semicolon tattoo has helped her with cutting and self-harm. Each time she sees her tattoo, especially when she’s depressed, it reminds her that full recovery is possible and gives her strength.
For someone else, one of her tattoos reminding her to breathe has saved her multiple times in panic attacks.
Another person explained how her tattoo which she thought was imperfect helped her overcome her anxiety and crippling OCD.

Tattoos can vastly improve one’s quality of life, especially if they are struggling with issues like depression and anxiety. Psychologists confirm that tattoos have therapeutic properties for those living with mental health issues. Some have even termed this “tattoo therapy”.

Carrying a visible reminder which acknowledges their struggle can help them reframe their traumatic experience and persevere through tough times.

Psycom.net explains how Project Semicolon is helping suicide survivors cope and hope:

Founded in 2013, Project Semicolon was created to support and honour those struggling with suicide, depression, self-injury, and addiction. It has become a powerful symbol of mental health awareness and can be seen incorporated into many mental health-based tattoos. The semi colon was chosen because it represents where a writer could have ended a sentence but didn’t. You are the author, the sentence is your life. This symbol conveys the message that your story is not over, your journey continues…

For many, tattoos are a positive, healthier alternative of coping with mental illness. Instead of escaping with risky behaviours or substance abuse, tattoos can help the individual live with their reality by empowering them to love and accept themselves.

How do I deal with my child getting a tattoo?

You could either react with anger and isolate them, or use this as an opportunity to better understand them and their worldview. There might be a meaningful story or motivation behind their tattoo, and if you’re willing to let them share it, this could be a chance for you to get a rare insight into the way they view the world. It could shed light on their beliefs that you might otherwise never be exposed to.

If your child is depressed or struggling with mental health issues, reacting with hostility would be the worst thing you could do. People with mental health issues usually feel alone in the world, and what they need most is probably your support and acceptance. By demonstrating disapproval towards their tattoo, you’re showing that you’re unwilling to give them autonomy of their own body and life. This will not only make them feel helpless but also result in resentment and further isolation.