8 Guys Share the Powerful Stories Behind Their Mental Health Tattoos

Brian, a police officer, has long struggled with the symptoms of PTSD. In 2012, he had a mental breakdown, which led him to enter a mental health treatment program, where he received an official PTSD diagnosis.

"Depending on who's translating, this tattoo means 'change,’ ‘completion of crossing the water,’ ‘bring order from chaos,’ or 'water above fire,' which is its more literal meaning. It’s from a system of Chinese pictographs called the I-Ching. This one is particularly famous because it is also the marking that Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow from G.I. Joe use as their family crest.

I got this tattoo about eight years ago. At the time, I was going through what I thought was professional and personal advancement, and the tattoo was meant to celebrate this advancement. But in reality, when I look back on that time of my life, it was full of chaos, heartbreak, and the beginning of a slow slide to a total crash that almost cost me everything I hold dear.

My wife used to hate the tattoo. For her, it symbolized a horrible time in our life and marriage. Now that we're on the other side, however, we look at it as a symbol of us 'bring[ing] order from chaos,' which is what we have done together with our marriage, family, relationship, and business partnership since my PTSD diagnosis. For me, it symbolizes that life is a cycle — up and down, black and white, order and chaos — but that good men will step forth to meet the challenge and make that crossing."