Founded 2013 Type 501(c)(3) | Founder Amy Bleuel Location Green Bay, Wisconsin | |
Focus Achieving lower suicide rates in the U.S. and around the world Origins Founded ten years later after the death of Amy Bleuel's father by suicide in 2013. | ||
Project Semicolon (stylized as Project ;) is an American mental health 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2013. The movement calls for, "presenting hope and love to those who are struggling with depression, suicide, addiction, and self-injury." They are primarily known for encouraging people to draw (or tattoo) the punctuation mark semicolon (;) on their bodies as a form of solidarity between people dealing with mental illness or death of someone from suicide.
Contents
Although a Christian faith-based organization, the movement is inclusive for people holding different beliefs or religions.
History
Project Semicolon was founded by Amy Bleuel in 2013, as a tribute to her father, who died by suicide in 2003. She is Christian.
Amy Bleuel
Bleuel lives in Wisconsin. After her parents divorced, Bleuel chose to live with her father and his second wife at the age of 6. Since then, Bleuel endured being physically abused by her stepmother. At the age of 8, she was taken into state custody by a child protective service. Bleuel said that she started self-harming and attempting to kill herself after she had been sexually abused at the age of 10, and raped at 13. At the age of 18, Bleuel's father died from suicide, and she was subsequently released from the system. In her early years in college, Bleuel was raped twice, and suffered a miscarriage. Bleuel suffered from alcoholism at the age of 30 and had four major suicidal attempts.
Overview
Project Semicolon defines itself as "dedicated to presenting hope and love for those who are struggling with mental illness, suicide, addiction and self-injury", and "exists to encourage, love and inspire." While they are devoted to achieving lower suicide rates in the U.S. and worldwide, they do not themselves practice psychiatry, and the staff are not trained mental health professionals. Rather, they recommend contacting emergency hotlines (e.g. 9-1-1 or the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline) or seeking mental health professionals.
According to a report by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States. with 42,773 reported deaths as of 2014.
Advocacy
Project Semicolon explains that "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."
The movement became prominent in early July 2015. People have started uploading photos of their own semicolon tattoos through social media to support the movement, gaining attention from a variety of mainstream news outlets.
Amy Bleuel has remarked on the initial outcome of the 2016 U.S. presidential election, crisis hotlines having reported a major uptick, that "There’s valid fear and fear drives suicide. Also sadness drives suicide. So these people are feeling this and it’s at an overwhelming extent that they’re choosing to go that route."
An upcoming book entitled Project Semicolon: Your Story Isn't Over was revealed by the organization, to be released on September 5, 2017. Published by HarperCollins, the book is a compilation of stories and photos shared within Project Semicolon's online community.