Woman's 'Depression' Tattoo Could Change the Way You Think About Mental Illness (PHOTO)

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A 21-year-old woman has found a stunning way to share what it feels like to have depression -- using an optical illusion tattoo. Bekah Miles announced that she suffers from the mental illness and is ready to talk about it. Her body ink shows why that conversation can be so hard. 

Miles's Facebook post has received nearly 300,000 shares, so it's clearly resonating with people. She says she was diagnosed with depression a year ago, but believes she had the illness longer than that. In her post she talks about how difficult it is to talk about mental illness because of the shame surrounding it. Yet it's too important and affects too many people to ignore it.

That's why she got the tattoo, Miles says. It is, like most other tattoos, a conversation starter. Hers forces her to talk about her depression. The design is ingenious. From the viewer's perspective it looks like it reads "I'm fine" across her leg. But from her perspective it reads, "Save me."

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Miles says, "To me, it means that others see this person that seems okay, but, in reality, is not okay at all. It reminds me that people who may appear happy may be at battle with themselves."

The post has since gone viral with over 33,000 comments. It definitely resonated with people who can relate to Miles's take on depression -- and it's no doubt enlightened many others. It's such a creative way to start a conversation. Sometimes we need a visual to understand something -- and this visual is especially effective.

This tattoo is making a lot of us think, whether we suffer from depression or know someone who does. It's a sneaky disease that likes to disguise itself. It's easy to ignore -- until it's not, and then sometimes it's too late. Miles's tattoo doesn't solve the problem of that disease, but it does encourage more of us to engage in it.

Who knows, maybe Miles's tattoo will end up saving some lives.

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Since posting the photo Miles has commented on the overwhelming response she's gotten.

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Image via Antonio Guillem/Shutterstock

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.