A new movement sweeping the USA has made it to the Bay of Plenty, with Mount Maunganui's Jo Dempsey joining those supporting people suffering with depression by getting a semicolon tattoo on each of her hands.

Project semicolon is dedicated to presenting hope and love to those who are struggling with depression, suicide, addiction and self-injury, she says.

Jo Dempsey gets her semi colon tattoo from tattooist Nasa. Photo: Bruce Barnard.

'A semicolon represents a sentence the author could have ended, but chose not to,” explains Jo.

'The sentence is your life and the author is you.

'I've got two because I lost a partner to suicide and have worked in mental health for 10 years, so I understand the battle.”

Jo is hoping to raise awareness about the movement. She recently visited Nasa at Hammerhead Tattoos to get a semicolon on her right and left hands.

She adds: 'It's about getting the message out there, encouraging others to get on board, encouraging people to talk to someone if they are feeling depressed or anxious and making people aware of what can be going on around them.

'We live in a society where you greet someone and ask them how they are. If they say ‘I'm not doing too good', generally the response will be ‘chin up', ‘she'll be right'.

'I'm getting the tattoos to support the cause but also in the hope that people will ask what it's about, and I can share and raise awareness.”

Jo says mental health issues can happen to anyone at any time.

'It's just like having the flu but unfortunately it gets a stigma and it needs to change,” she says.

'Suicide rates in New Zealand are very high and I would like to do anything I can to reduce that number and stop anyone going through what I, and my partner's family, went through.”

For more information about the project, visit: www.projectsemicolon.com