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    VeitAngela Helm
    5/02/19 10:18am

    I really like the idea of the semicolon tattoo and how it builds a sort of sub-vocal support network among people who have them. It’s subtle but noticeable, and makes a community out of survivors. It’s wonderful.

    At the same time (I’m embracing the dialectic), Project Semicolon has endorsed some pretty messed up ideas based in eugenics about eradicating mental illnesses. I think they’re doing their best, but the organization itself is also missing the mark by a huge margin and actively contributing to problems faced by the mentally ill. This is a good discussion of the issue (the website is down for whatever reason so I’ve grabbed an archived link): https://web.archive.org/web/20190211082207/http://disabilityintersections.com/2015/09/roundtable-project-semicolon-promotes-mental-illness-eugenics/

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      StrangerSnacksVeit
      5/02/19 10:58am

      Thank you for this. I stopped reading after a couple of paragraphs because those paragraphs said all I needed to know and I have to get to work. “Faith-based” (funny how I’ve been reading about this for years and that has never, ever been mentioned) and “son of Dog the Bounty Hunter” (sounds like an excellent role model and highly qualified). I didn’t even get to the eugenics bit yet. 

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      kdjfsVeit
      5/02/19 11:22am

      lmao that video is all of the most childish and moronic aspects of modern mental illness “advocacy” rolled into one.  any time you see the words “faith-based” you know it’s time to roll the fuck out.

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    MisanthropicMunchkinAngela Helm
    5/02/19 10:42am

    I’ve never considered getting a tattoo, but I think I’ll get one of these. I haven’t been suicidal since middle-school, but depression never ends. I lost a friend of mine to suicide just after graduating college in 2012. It sucks.

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    Thotline Bling: black girl supremacyAngela Helm
    5/02/19 11:18pm

    damn. i had been thinking of getting a semicolon tattoo for several years now due to my battle with depression (despite the grammar issues w/the explanation behind it.) but reading that comment about dog the bounty hunter’s son’s trash ass video has firmly shut that down.

    why anyone associated w/the semicolon project would watch that fool describe mental illness as a “crutch” or listen to his ramblings about people in wheelchairs and think “yes! let’s post this!” is beyond me.

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    StrangerSnacksAngela Helm
    5/02/19 11:07am

    This has always seemed like the tattoo of choice for the worst of my people (53% of white women). It’s “enlightened” and trendy and very instagrammable. I’ve seen it on a number of people who haven’t ever actually been diagnosed with anything, who use trigger warnings like weapons, who I wouldn’t trust with my mental health truths for a hot second and who have never been in treatment.

    Maybe these are the just the most vocal people. I don’t know.

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