Mental illness is savage, acting as an obstacle to the many people who suffer from its various forms. Healthy Place says that depression and other types of mental health challenges can lead individuals towards unhealthy ways of coping with their pain.
According to statistics, 2 million cases of self-harm are reported annually in the United States, with 90% of self-harmers beginning the practice in their pre-teen or teenage years. Now though, tattoo artists around the world are helping people overcome their self-harming tendencies one tattoo at a timeโฆ
Aoife Lovett from Condalkin, Ireland, is no stranger to self-harm, having suffered from depression and mental illness throughout her life.
Although Aoife no longer feels the need to hurt herself to release her pain, she says her scars are a constant reminder of her haunted past.


She tells Independent.ie, โItโs very hard when youโre a couple years clean from doing it, and every day youโre constantly reminded of what you did.โ
โIt brings back memories of how you felt then.โ
Thereโs a lot of shame that comes with it, and guilt, especially when youโre around your family.โ
For years, she tried to find a tattoo artist to cover her scars, but none would take on the task.
โA lot of artists just wonโt cover them because itโs a lot of work, and theyโd just not rather take the risk of it looking bad,โ she tells Independent.ie.
Ryan Kelly, a tattoo artist from Ink Factory, confirms, explaining, โA lot of tattoo artists avoid doing tattooing over scars. Understandably, to a certain degree, because obviously if you want your best piece, itโs going to be better on flat skin.โ
But Ryan Kelly is no ordinary tattoo artist, having created the Scars Behind Beauty movement, specifically dedicated to helping people who have struggled with self-harm.


Ryan was inspired by a client in similar circumstances to Aoife. He recalls the events to Independent.ie, saying:
โA girl just randomly came in looking for a tattoo to cover up some scars, and I got talking to her, and she started telling me her story and at the end of that, it didnโt really feel right to charge her. It kind of felt like it meant more to her than that.โ
Now, Ryan helps victims of self-harm by covering their scars with beautiful designsโ and the best part?
He does it absolutely FREE.


โI just started to do one a week,โ he says. โI started getting people in once every Saturday and I covered them up.โ
โOnce I posted it on social media, it kind of blew up. Iโve just been doing it every week since then, and I now have close to 300 people on the waiting list now.โ


In an interview with Independent.ie, Aoife says, โI think what Ryan is doing is brilliant because itโs very hard to get someone to tattoo over [self-harm scars], and itโs such a meaningful thing to me to get them covered and get them covered well.โ
โItโs very hard to find an artist who will do that and is passionate about it.โ


โRyan is helping people move on,โ she continues. โItโs putting something beautiful over something ugly. It gives you a new sense of freedom and you get your confidence back.
The see more of Ryanโs Scars Behind Beauty tattoos, check out his Instagram, ryanseanthepirate.
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