Tattoos have exploded in popularity over the past decade and have become an artistic way for people to express themselves. What do tattoos mean? Before we address the meaning of various tattoos, let’s take a brief look at the history of tattoos.

We can go back almost 12,000 years where tools for tattooing were found in France, Portugal and Scandinavia. The oldest surviving tattoos were found on a mummy in the Otzi Valley in the Alps from the fifth to fourth millennium BC. Ancient Egypt and India used tattoos as methods of religious worship and healing. Ancient Romans, Greeks and Chinese tattooed their slaves and criminals to be able to identify them if they escaped.

The Jewish world has a longstanding aversion to tattoos. The taboo against body ink remains powerful among largely secular Jews. The objection relates to Leviticus 19.28 “You shall not make gashes in your flesh for the dead, or incise any marks on yourself.” Some liberal Jews have taken a fresh look at tattoos, but many still overwhelmingly see tattoos as inconsistent with the teachings of Jewish tradition.

Most people get tattoos to tell a story, to highlight pain, triumph and obstacles they have faced in their lives. Tattoos can also be therapeutic to some. Below are a few types of therapeutic tattoos:

Mastectomy Tattoo Movement: Following Breast Cancer treatment, some women opt to get artistic tattoos to cover mastectomy scars and to reclaim their bodies. An organization P.ink (Personal ink) refers Breast Cancer survivors to tattoo artists with mastectomy tattoo experience.

Recovery from Addiction Tattoo: It takes amazing strength to address and recover from addiction. It helps to have motivational reminders to stay on track, and a tattoo can inspire and celebrate recovery. A patient of mine has “one day at a time” tattooed on the inside of her wrist. If she feels anxious, she reads her tattoo and that reminds her to slow down, breath, realize she can make it through today sober and contact her sponsor for support.

Memorializing a Loss Tattoo: Sarah, a former psychotherapy patient of mine lost her father to suicide. Sarah had a tattoo behind her left ear — a semicolon. She explained that she searched for a tattoo that would honor her father and increase awareness of mental health problems. She stumbled upon “Project Semicolon.” This organization is dedicated to preventing suicide. Sarah has taken a positive step in her healing process and told me she likes to talk to others who have experienced devastating loss in their lives and wants to promote positive ways to discuss mental health issues.

A 60-year-old female patient told me that for years she thought anyone getting a tattoo did not realize the consequences, such as not liking it after a few years, and the time and pain involved to have it removed. Then, she pointed out a hummingbird tattoo on her right shoulder. She decided to get this tattoo because it represented her daughter who had died of Brain Cancer. This tattoo brought her peace. Here was a woman who was anti-tattoos for years and, at the age of 60, decided there was a very good reason, the memory of her daughter, to get a tattoo. Yes, change is possible!

Dr. Julia Breur is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with a private clinical psychotherapy practice in Boca Raton. For more information, call 561-512-8545, e-mail info@drjuliabreur.com or visit www.drjuliabreur.com.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), suicide rates in the United States increased 30 percent between 2000 and 2016 and, according to a June 2018 CDC separate analysis, suicides have risen in almost every state.

The recent suicides of the well-know fashion designer Kate Spade, age 55, and celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain, age 61, bring forth the sad reality that suicide rates for middle aged people are now higher than almost any other age group in the United States … and rising.

According to the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, the most common stressors linked to middle age suicides include problems with partners, job and finances, health, family and legal issues. Other links have been made to using alcohol and drugs as coping mechanisms, physical and chronic pain, untreated depression and other mental health problems and isolation. It is isolating to be a well-known figure where people want to know you for social opportunities and not always for social connections.

Bridget Phetasy a stand-up comedian and freelance writer explains, “If you’ve never wanted to kill yourself, it’s hard to comprehend the feeling, but it’s insidious and ever-present and, once the idea of suicide got in my head, it was like a worm that infected the network, exploiting the vulnerabilities in my operating system. When I was deep in that darkness, the thought was always with me, haunting me, waiting for just the right moment or excuse to tip me over the line from ideation to planning to action.”

There is a call to action for every state in the United States to intensify the focus on implementing suicide prevention policies and programs to save lives! Twenty-seven states note that 54 percent of those who died from suicide were not diagnosed with a mental health condition (CDC, 2015).

Dr. Jerry Reed, an executive member of the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention, says that the alliance is working with more than 250 hospitals nationwide to ensure that someone brought into their facilities after a suicide attempt is connected to long-term mental healthcare. He advocates that churches, schools and police need to improve recognizing people at risk for suicide and help them get proper treatment and to feel less isolated.

Dr. Reed believes that limiting access to guns for people who are unwell is also a priority. He states, “People at risk for suicide must be asked if they have firearms and it might be a good idea to have someone hold onto their firearms while they are in treatment.”

Help and hope:

The number for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-TALK (8255). Veterans can dial 1. People are available to talk 24 hours every day. The website (www.speakingofsuicide.com) offers important resources. If you or someone you know feel suicidal, contact a doctor or a mental health professional, family, clergy or friends and dial 911 if necessary. When it comes to thinking about suicide — there is help and hope.

Dr. Julia Breur is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with a private clinical psychotherapy practice in Boca Raton. Further information is available at www.drjuliabreur.com.

Victim(s):

• Adult male (DECEASED)
• One male child. Age 9 (DECEASED)
• Adult female (INJURED)
• Male child. Age 7 (INJURED)

Suspect(s):

• adult male (DECEASED)

Broward Sheriff’s Office (BSO) investigators are trying to determine why a man fatally shot another man Thursday night, Feb. 9 at a quiet Deerfield Beach R.V. park before he barricaded himself inside an R.V. and attempted to kill his family. When BSO SWAT medics were able to get inside the R.V., they found the suspect and a 9-year-old boy dead. A woman and a 7-year-old boy were critically injured.

The bizarre ordeal, which lasted more than seven hours, started around 6:20 p.m. BSO was called to the Highland Woods R.V. Park after someone reported a shooting with a possible injured person. When deputies arrived, they saw a man lying unresponsive on the pavement. Inside a nearby R.V.just feet away from the victim, the suspected shooter said he was holding a woman hostage and that he would kill her if they approached. Initially unable to get to the injured man on the ground, deputies tried to convince the suspect to release the hostage and surrender peacefully. He refused. SWAT paramedics successfully extracted the shooting victim from the scene and determined that he had died from his injuries.

Around 7:30 p.m., a woman emerged from the R.V. unharmed. She told detectives that the suspect’s wife and two sons were with him. For hours, the SWAT Team tried to make contact with the suspect, to no avail. All the while, Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue paramedics were staged nearby in the event injured hostages would need medical attention. The SWAT Team, with the help of Coral Springs Police Dept.’s SWAT Team, made entry around 1:30 a.m. Friday and discovered the victims. SWAT medics and BSFR paramedics rendered aid to the injured woman and boy before transporting them to North Broward Medical Center and Broward General Medical Center, respectively. Both were in critical condition. BSO Criminal Investigations Division detectives are investigating to determine what circumstances led to the attacks. They believe the suspect was a stranger to the shooting victim.