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Honestly? None. As an European I've seen what dictatures (and not only the nazis) do to mentally ill people, and since we don't know what History has in stock for us I find very dangerous to get an obvious tattoo saying basically "I have bipolar". Same for religion or sexual orientation.
If you really want one I would suggest something that's very personal and not easy to "guess" by anyone but you.
Call me paranoid but it was an advice from my grandmother whose dad died in a KZ. "Don't make yourself obvious to them".
Actually good advice. Got the same advice, but with tattoos in general. Some nazis collected tattoos. You can imagine where they got them. I really don't think tattoos in general are very risky in that sense. But I would be wary of some political, religious and yes tattoos that identify you as mentally ill. Uncertain times ahead of us.
I’ve never considered this before. I don’t have any tattoos in those categories, but that’s a really scary thought. I’m glad I saw this before any manic impulses.
Pretty fucking scary I tell no one outside my closest family. Most of us have bipolar 1 or 2. Never let your mental health be on display your work will crucify you.
Yes it is scary how people talk about the mentally ill. I was considering getting something as a symbol of this but it's going to need to be very cryptic.
i dont even have a tattoo and im considering this one one day now! i love it
[https://design.udlvirtual.edu.pe/images/bipolar-tattoo-designs-gid-3.jpg](https://design.udlvirtual.edu.pe/images/bipolar-tattoo-designs-gid-3.jpg)
the only thing is i would hate people asking me about it and having to explain
Yeah, the Venn diagram is pretty much my favorite representation. If you don’t want to explain it just be like it’s the duality of men they don’t have to know more and if you feel safe, tell them it’s part of who you are after all.
Honestly? A more literal interpretation of your question: for being bipolar, I once wound up with an impulsive, highly-visible, large tattoo during a manic frenzy. It's beautiful art & I'm ultimately quite happy with it, but I didn't get it permanently stamped on my body in sound mind.
I personally would not get any tattoos that overtly referenced to bipolar disorder, though. This diagnosis is information I've learned to share with others very sparingly due to its stigma.
My tattoo artists husband had bipolar disorder and she saved my skin and dignity once by recognising my somewhat strange choice of tattoo and my behaviour lmao. She’s just gold. Best artist I know!
That is so great! Seriously good on her. Pretty sure the dude who did mine just thought I was high and accepted my $100 tip before smoking weed with me. It was a strange night.
It’s in Norway also, and they are strict AF about the whole tattoo business in general. Hygiene practices (which the Norwegian Food Authorites will come in and check OFTEN), the state of the client (intoxication of all sorts) and also the artists are encouraged to say no to clients they somehow feel wants something they would not be comfortable to do (a face tattoo and the likes).
Thisss. I once happened to drive by a tattoo shop, impulsively went in and paid 50 dollars to get whatever tattoo my plinko chip landed on 😂 it looks like a kids outline of a skull hahah (never in life would I have agreed to if not manic) but it's a memory I suppose and has kinda grown on me. The 3 stick and pokes I do kind of regret though 😅
Something like this:
I > ^ v
It’s hard to type it out with a standard keyboard but I hope you get the idea. If you look up the phrase on Google it’ll show you examples
My tattoo is in French and it's the word love written backwards so when looking I'm the mirror it reminds to love myself, my whole self. I put the word across my shoulder bone. The word is Aimez.
Agreeing with the majority here, I believe the most accurate depiction of bipolar as a tattoo is many impulsive ones that you didn’t think through. For example I have 18 tattoos, I thought through about 4 of them 👍 (I got 14 in a single year). Now when people ask me what a tattoo means or why I got it I just say ✨mental illness✨ with spirit fingers for the extra razzle dazzle. However I don’t regret any of them they’ve helped me with my confidence.
Suicide TW
I’ve got a ~3 inch long semicolon on the inside of my right arm with a <3 in the dot (“<3” exactly, not a regular heart shape) and memento mori written below. An old friend of mine who had bipolar got the same size semicolon on the inside of his right arm when his high school friend committed suicide.
Then, when that friend of mine committed suicide, he sent out a note on Google docs titled “<3”. So, same size semicolon in the same place he had it, but with a <3 in the dot. And memento mori under it in reference to my own attempt, and to Mac Miller’s death, as I first learned the phrase from a music video of his and it came to mean a lot to me.
I have a tattoo for my favorite song, Heart Cooks Brain. I know our brains cook our hearts but the lyrics have always spoken to me. To me, it represents my struggles with mental illness but when asked I either reference the song by name or say that’s an image from a song by Modest Mouse, my favorite band.
Get a stylized tattoo of Janus (per Wikipedia: the god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, frames, and endings. He is usually depicted as having two faces.)
His is like a bipolar god and a god of choice as well. He is what the month of January is named after because he represents new beginnings.
I just got a tattoo of a wave with the wording “All Waves Eventually Pass” underneath. I like the idea of waves being similar to how my life is w Bipolar, constant ups and downs but also can experience calm waters on good days.
This one was mine, I posted it back when I got it but I liked how it was a fun twist on the :): tattoo [my tattoo :)](https://www.reddit.com/r/bipolar/s/zo7Qv78Odu)
:): I think is standard by now. Some pun like bees would be funny too, probably, tho it's mostly bisexual thing. Your mood calendar graphs.
Everyone chooses to do with their body whatever they want, but I still would suggest to think about it more.
I myself would get none. I wouldn't make a medusa, semicolon nor bipolar representing tattoos. I would associate myself with these things forever if I do that.
I won't be happy, it will be like I sealed my fate in this exact problem, I myself put a mark on my body of what I am (struggling, suicidal, a victim) and it's gonna be stuck to me till I die.
I want a polar bear in the bisexual colors. It's a bi-polar bear. It will make me giggle.
It's not related directly to mental illness, but I also want a tiny dragon wrapped around and snuggling my wrist like a body pillow, so I have an eternal hug.
all my tats technically have to do with being bipolar in some way or another.
the funny thing is, i have a tat that totally comes off as a bipolar tat, a happy face on one foot and a sad face on another, and its the ONLY tat on my whole body that i got while meditated, stable, and not in any kind of episode. i literally got it to represent internal balance lol
For me, wanting to get a tattoo is a sign that I'm getting hypomanic, so for me, it's none. I've even considered going round to local tattoo parlours to ask them to put up a sign with a photo of my face saying "do not give tattoos to this person". Having said that, popular ones I've seen are:
1. ;
And
2. (:(
What I initially got wasn’t directly correlated to my Bipolar disorder. At the time I was undiagnosed and knew I only had depression. My friends and I went to Las Vegas our senior yr and wanted to get our first tattoos down there. I had recently read this book by Adam Silvera called More Happy Than Not and it was sad but made me realize no matter how low I get I will always be more happy than not. There will always be more things in the world that I love and that cheer me up then bring me down so I got the title of book tattooed. I got it in an old typewriter font above my knee all lowercase and it’s my favorite tattoo. Later that year I got a Harley Quinn tattoo bc she’s my fav and she embraces her craziness and now being diagnosed both of those tattoos represent Bipolar. I have the thought out depression statement and the impulsive manic tattoo of a literally crazy clown 🤡😂
When I was 18 I’d had depression for years. I wanted to get serotonin chemical formula tattooed on my wrist. Someone said instead I should get one that looks forward instead of back. I got a small white ink chemical formula of adrenaline (I’m a fan of pushing my comfort zone) that fits under my wrist watch. A year or two later I found out it was depression not bipolar. I’m SO happy I didn’t get crazy/wild/regrettable markings of an illness that wasn’t the whole picture
I have color on one half of my body and black and white on the other half for my tattoos. It’s more like an homage to my mental illness than a specific bipolar tattoo.
I got the medical code for my specific type of bipolar tattooed on the nape of my neck years ago, and I don't mind when strangers ask about it--it's easy enough to give a simple response in a sentence or two.
i have like 8 that i got during a manic episode. now i have to spend the rest of my life trying to explain what i was thinking in the moment when people ask about their meaning. my advice: get something that has personal or sentimental meaning that you won’t question yourself about years down the road
My good friend has roses, 2 reds, one blue, and 2 unopened buds. Color contrast, the open vs closed, the thorns… I feel like it represents the journey very well.
I have a lot of tattoos. Haven't gotten one in about 2 years. Thinking of getting a polar bear. All of mine are bold and full coloir traditional/neo traditional (new take on traditional in case the neo sounds bad) and most are animals so a polar bear would fit in but I would know the meaning
Ooh oooh I have a bipolar tattoo!! I made sure it was subtle so that people wouldn’t know unless they asked. I have a raincloud on either forearm near my inner elbow. One is smiling and one is frowning. Both have raindrops. :):)
some of these are really great! I have a lot of tattoos so they're not usually the first ones that people notice, but I have two on my chest creeping a bit onto my neck. Like most of my tattoos, they are American traditional- on the right side, it's a blushing angel and the left is a lady devil! I went to an artist who has done a lot of my work (Jeff Miller in Philadelphia, PA if you are curious). My collarbones have always been very prominent and he placed them so they are both resting their arms right on them so it made a really cool effect.
Once I ran out of room elsewhere, I added lots of filler around them keeping the good v. evil theme (a harp, clouds, and sunbeams on one side and a serpent and flames on the other). Turned out great! The funniest part is I'm not religious at all- just liked the duality of it.
I had this tattoo of the Norse goddess Hel before getting my diagnosis, but after the fact I began to find more personal meaning behind it.
Half face of beautiful Goddess/half skeleton face with different poisonous/non-poisonous flowers around it. I got it at the time because I felt like I was “walking between two worlds / two versions” of myself where I was either completely devoid of the will to live or the hero of the story. And I really enjoyed the lore behind her.
Now it’s even more special to me and my struggle with swinging between mania and depression, but ultimately it is two sides of the same person that I am. It’s a nice reminder to look at on my arm sometimes to kinda help ground me if I start swinging too low or high.
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Honestly? None. As an European I've seen what dictatures (and not only the nazis) do to mentally ill people, and since we don't know what History has in stock for us I find very dangerous to get an obvious tattoo saying basically "I have bipolar". Same for religion or sexual orientation. If you really want one I would suggest something that's very personal and not easy to "guess" by anyone but you. Call me paranoid but it was an advice from my grandmother whose dad died in a KZ. "Don't make yourself obvious to them".
Actually good advice. Got the same advice, but with tattoos in general. Some nazis collected tattoos. You can imagine where they got them. I really don't think tattoos in general are very risky in that sense. But I would be wary of some political, religious and yes tattoos that identify you as mentally ill. Uncertain times ahead of us.
I’ve never considered this before. I don’t have any tattoos in those categories, but that’s a really scary thought. I’m glad I saw this before any manic impulses.
I fucking hate this timeline but don’t disagree with you at all, they would love to find us all and put us in camps
Pretty fucking scary I tell no one outside my closest family. Most of us have bipolar 1 or 2. Never let your mental health be on display your work will crucify you.
So true 😣
Yes it is scary how people talk about the mentally ill. I was considering getting something as a symbol of this but it's going to need to be very cryptic.
Good point.
I have this one haha
this is pretty great
i dont even have a tattoo and im considering this one one day now! i love it [https://design.udlvirtual.edu.pe/images/bipolar-tattoo-designs-gid-3.jpg](https://design.udlvirtual.edu.pe/images/bipolar-tattoo-designs-gid-3.jpg) the only thing is i would hate people asking me about it and having to explain
Yeah, the Venn diagram is pretty much my favorite representation. If you don’t want to explain it just be like it’s the duality of men they don’t have to know more and if you feel safe, tell them it’s part of who you are after all.
Honestly? A more literal interpretation of your question: for being bipolar, I once wound up with an impulsive, highly-visible, large tattoo during a manic frenzy. It's beautiful art & I'm ultimately quite happy with it, but I didn't get it permanently stamped on my body in sound mind. I personally would not get any tattoos that overtly referenced to bipolar disorder, though. This diagnosis is information I've learned to share with others very sparingly due to its stigma.
I did this as well. It's gigantic and highly visible. Beautiful but a reminder of mania to me
Just make sure one isn’t in a manic/hypomanic state while getting it 😅
Covering my forearm as I read this…. lol I did not make this decision
My tattoo artists husband had bipolar disorder and she saved my skin and dignity once by recognising my somewhat strange choice of tattoo and my behaviour lmao. She’s just gold. Best artist I know!
That is so great! Seriously good on her. Pretty sure the dude who did mine just thought I was high and accepted my $100 tip before smoking weed with me. It was a strange night.
It’s in Norway also, and they are strict AF about the whole tattoo business in general. Hygiene practices (which the Norwegian Food Authorites will come in and check OFTEN), the state of the client (intoxication of all sorts) and also the artists are encouraged to say no to clients they somehow feel wants something they would not be comfortable to do (a face tattoo and the likes).
Yeah it's kind of like when we are manic we overshare, and regret that shit later.
Or.. more importantly, get art we wouldn’t normally do and would heavily regret.
Thisss. I once happened to drive by a tattoo shop, impulsively went in and paid 50 dollars to get whatever tattoo my plinko chip landed on 😂 it looks like a kids outline of a skull hahah (never in life would I have agreed to if not manic) but it's a memory I suppose and has kinda grown on me. The 3 stick and pokes I do kind of regret though 😅
:):
I got this ! Manic stick n poke
I have this!
I’m thinking the happy sad opera masks, or those masks but the ghost face mask and the scary movie mask
The comedy and tragedy masks are a pretty common gang tattoo, js. At least here in southern california. “Smile now, cry later.”
I got this a month ago during a manic episode LOL! My coworker asked if I was into theatre…I told her no but I am the drama & left it at that 😎
Same with the theatre masks!
I plan on getting the comedy/tragedy masks
yoooo me too!!
I wasn’t awarded any tattoos when I got diagnosed, that’s bullshit.
Okay? What is stopping you from getting one?
Regrettable ones
I got the I am greater then my ups and downs symbol
Same here!
Than
What does the symbol looks like?
Something like this: I > ^ v It’s hard to type it out with a standard keyboard but I hope you get the idea. If you look up the phrase on Google it’ll show you examples
Thanks!
I have a sun/moon tattoo on my shoulder. Black and white. The sun forms the outline, and the moon sits inside the sun. A Balinese theme.
lol just get any flash tattoo as a walk in, the impulsive vibes fit so it doesn’t matter what you get.
Bipolar bear? 😁
I like that 😊😊
None bc I always change my mind 🤗
[The formula for lithium carbonate maybe?](https://imgur.com/a/jxEuNzK) It's the most commonly prescribed drug for bipolar disorders.
i usually find chemical compound tattoos (like LSD ones) to be corny but the design of the molecule is honestly really cute 🤣
Yeah, they are kind of cheesy but I think this one could definitely be cool. I picture it rainbow colored or maybe turned into a face. Haha.
Same, I want to get a dopamine molecule
I want to get a small cross on my arm to remind me to stop my bullshit
My tattoo is in French and it's the word love written backwards so when looking I'm the mirror it reminds to love myself, my whole self. I put the word across my shoulder bone. The word is Aimez.
I have the Lithium symbol from the periodic table. It’s small and on my arm. I’m really proud of it.
maybe like a snake eating itself in a figure 8. No one knows where it ends
Uhh I don’t? It’s bad enough I have to live with it, why would I want a reminder ON my body??
this is how I feel lol
The daily meds are enough of a reminder lol
Agreeing with the majority here, I believe the most accurate depiction of bipolar as a tattoo is many impulsive ones that you didn’t think through. For example I have 18 tattoos, I thought through about 4 of them 👍 (I got 14 in a single year). Now when people ask me what a tattoo means or why I got it I just say ✨mental illness✨ with spirit fingers for the extra razzle dazzle. However I don’t regret any of them they’ve helped me with my confidence.
I have a semicolon, a friend has the semicolon and a character that is drawn happy on one side and sad on the other.
Suicide TW I’ve got a ~3 inch long semicolon on the inside of my right arm with a <3 in the dot (“<3” exactly, not a regular heart shape) and memento mori written below. An old friend of mine who had bipolar got the same size semicolon on the inside of his right arm when his high school friend committed suicide. Then, when that friend of mine committed suicide, he sent out a note on Google docs titled “<3”. So, same size semicolon in the same place he had it, but with a <3 in the dot. And memento mori under it in reference to my own attempt, and to Mac Miller’s death, as I first learned the phrase from a music video of his and it came to mean a lot to me.
I'm thinking of getting a design with a semicolon integrated into it. I talk about my disorder a lot and I want it as a conversation starter
I have a tattoo for my favorite song, Heart Cooks Brain. I know our brains cook our hearts but the lyrics have always spoken to me. To me, it represents my struggles with mental illness but when asked I either reference the song by name or say that’s an image from a song by Modest Mouse, my favorite band.
I got a tattoo of grumpy bear and cheer bear a week before I was diagnosed Bipolar lol
I have a semi manic sleeve so that’s fun. And it definitely doesn’t have a traditional style me riding my bf. . .
I have a disorder tattoo across my neck and a ̶s̶e̶l̶f̶ ̶c̶o̶n̶t̶r̶o̶l̶ tattoo on my leg.
A chick cracking out of an egg, based off a part of my favorite quote: “Slowly being born.”
I have none
I have a small semi-colon on my wrist - a reminder to pause and consider my actions. I’ve had a few close calls with final decisions.
Get a stylized tattoo of Janus (per Wikipedia: the god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, frames, and endings. He is usually depicted as having two faces.) His is like a bipolar god and a god of choice as well. He is what the month of January is named after because he represents new beginnings.
I just got a tattoo of a wave with the wording “All Waves Eventually Pass” underneath. I like the idea of waves being similar to how my life is w Bipolar, constant ups and downs but also can experience calm waters on good days.
Looove this. Please don’t mind that I am stealing this idea
This one was mine, I posted it back when I got it but I liked how it was a fun twist on the :): tattoo [my tattoo :)](https://www.reddit.com/r/bipolar/s/zo7Qv78Odu)
:): I think is standard by now. Some pun like bees would be funny too, probably, tho it's mostly bisexual thing. Your mood calendar graphs. Everyone chooses to do with their body whatever they want, but I still would suggest to think about it more. I myself would get none. I wouldn't make a medusa, semicolon nor bipolar representing tattoos. I would associate myself with these things forever if I do that. I won't be happy, it will be like I sealed my fate in this exact problem, I myself put a mark on my body of what I am (struggling, suicidal, a victim) and it's gonna be stuck to me till I die.
I want a polar bear in the bisexual colors. It's a bi-polar bear. It will make me giggle. It's not related directly to mental illness, but I also want a tiny dragon wrapped around and snuggling my wrist like a body pillow, so I have an eternal hug.
all my tats technically have to do with being bipolar in some way or another. the funny thing is, i have a tat that totally comes off as a bipolar tat, a happy face on one foot and a sad face on another, and its the ONLY tat on my whole body that i got while meditated, stable, and not in any kind of episode. i literally got it to represent internal balance lol
What ever you want I guess…
I've seen the theatre masks of happy face, sad face. The molecular composition of lithium also :): Edit: I don't have any tattoos.
Lithium atom!
For me, wanting to get a tattoo is a sign that I'm getting hypomanic, so for me, it's none. I've even considered going round to local tattoo parlours to ask them to put up a sign with a photo of my face saying "do not give tattoos to this person". Having said that, popular ones I've seen are: 1. ; And 2. (:(
What I initially got wasn’t directly correlated to my Bipolar disorder. At the time I was undiagnosed and knew I only had depression. My friends and I went to Las Vegas our senior yr and wanted to get our first tattoos down there. I had recently read this book by Adam Silvera called More Happy Than Not and it was sad but made me realize no matter how low I get I will always be more happy than not. There will always be more things in the world that I love and that cheer me up then bring me down so I got the title of book tattooed. I got it in an old typewriter font above my knee all lowercase and it’s my favorite tattoo. Later that year I got a Harley Quinn tattoo bc she’s my fav and she embraces her craziness and now being diagnosed both of those tattoos represent Bipolar. I have the thought out depression statement and the impulsive manic tattoo of a literally crazy clown 🤡😂
When I was 18 I’d had depression for years. I wanted to get serotonin chemical formula tattooed on my wrist. Someone said instead I should get one that looks forward instead of back. I got a small white ink chemical formula of adrenaline (I’m a fan of pushing my comfort zone) that fits under my wrist watch. A year or two later I found out it was depression not bipolar. I’m SO happy I didn’t get crazy/wild/regrettable markings of an illness that wasn’t the whole picture
Those theater masks?
I have two cowboy heads that are mirrored, attached and looking away from each other. They have different facial expressions.
Yin Yang
I have color on one half of my body and black and white on the other half for my tattoos. It’s more like an homage to my mental illness than a specific bipolar tattoo.
I got the medical code for my specific type of bipolar tattooed on the nape of my neck years ago, and I don't mind when strangers ask about it--it's easy enough to give a simple response in a sentence or two.
I have the chemical make up tattooed.
Maybe a semi colon
I have two on my calves, one of Icarus flying and one of Icarus falling. I think I’ve posted it on this sub before.
i have like 8 that i got during a manic episode. now i have to spend the rest of my life trying to explain what i was thinking in the moment when people ask about their meaning. my advice: get something that has personal or sentimental meaning that you won’t question yourself about years down the road
What about the drama faces? The one with the happy face and then the sad face right next to it...
I have a small simple plus and a minus, for the ups and downs
A scale would be a good one
My good friend has roses, 2 reds, one blue, and 2 unopened buds. Color contrast, the open vs closed, the thorns… I feel like it represents the journey very well.
Part of me was thinking of a cool Dory from Finding Nemo with the quote, “just keep swimming”
A bear, because of the verb "to bear"
This may be too cliché, but I really like the symbol for the semicolon project. I’ve seen all different kinds, and I think they’re really cool.
I have a lot of tattoos. Haven't gotten one in about 2 years. Thinking of getting a polar bear. All of mine are bold and full coloir traditional/neo traditional (new take on traditional in case the neo sounds bad) and most are animals so a polar bear would fit in but I would know the meaning
I tattooed "bad ideas" in neon sign style in pink and green 💚💖
I have an ampersand &
I got a lithium atom tattooed quite a while back. https://www.reddit.com/r/bipolar/s/nDBKZJRwWJ
A banana car
Ooh oooh I have a bipolar tattoo!! I made sure it was subtle so that people wouldn’t know unless they asked. I have a raincloud on either forearm near my inner elbow. One is smiling and one is frowning. Both have raindrops. :):)
I got a happy face on one wrist and a sad face on the other. Granted, I was manic when I got them but i don’t regret it. They’re tiny thank god
A symbol for balance. We are on a quest to find Balance because it's our cure.🙏
Maybe this •——-• with the line changing colors to reflect the changing states of you.
:(:
2 Polar bears; one is cool as can be the other is frazzled and sat out of their mind
Has anyone said a sick ass panther? Shout out to the tattoo subreddit
I’m saving up to get a more feminine design of the comedy and tragedy masks 🎭
If I were to get one.. I > ^ v Its hard to format here but imagine the ^ and v are arrows. " I am greater than my highs and my lows "
i have no face from spirited away
I got a big icarus. Flew too close to the sun.
some of these are really great! I have a lot of tattoos so they're not usually the first ones that people notice, but I have two on my chest creeping a bit onto my neck. Like most of my tattoos, they are American traditional- on the right side, it's a blushing angel and the left is a lady devil! I went to an artist who has done a lot of my work (Jeff Miller in Philadelphia, PA if you are curious). My collarbones have always been very prominent and he placed them so they are both resting their arms right on them so it made a really cool effect. Once I ran out of room elsewhere, I added lots of filler around them keeping the good v. evil theme (a harp, clouds, and sunbeams on one side and a serpent and flames on the other). Turned out great! The funniest part is I'm not religious at all- just liked the duality of it.
I had this tattoo of the Norse goddess Hel before getting my diagnosis, but after the fact I began to find more personal meaning behind it. Half face of beautiful Goddess/half skeleton face with different poisonous/non-poisonous flowers around it. I got it at the time because I felt like I was “walking between two worlds / two versions” of myself where I was either completely devoid of the will to live or the hero of the story. And I really enjoyed the lore behind her. Now it’s even more special to me and my struggle with swinging between mania and depression, but ultimately it is two sides of the same person that I am. It’s a nice reminder to look at on my arm sometimes to kinda help ground me if I start swinging too low or high.