Action News Now reporter Lauren Cooper visited a local tattoo shop to find out more.
Chico, California – Do getting a tattoo have mental health benefits?
In this week’s Wellness Wednesday segment, Action News Now reporter Lauren Cooper visits a local tattoo parlor to find out why getting inked is said to be good for your mental health.
“I don’t do well in a crowd, but when I’m surrounded by other people with tattoos, I’m OK,” said Tanner Drake, owner of Hidden Veil Tattoo in Chico.
Drake said that’s how he feels when he comes to work, and that he’s been tattooing for more than 10 years.
“I had a little Joker-like face painted on my foot, and yeah, my mom didn’t really like it,” Drake said.
Supposedly he did it himself when he was 13, but his mother eventually got over it.
Although tattoos can sometimes be painful, they may also have some health benefits.
“So I think we all go through hard times and we all go through tough times in life and as far as mental stress, I think getting a tattoo helps relieve some of that stress,” Drake said.
Drake said many of his customers feel the same way, some of whom come in on a weekly basis.
“I see joy in their eyes and it just seems like every day is getting better. What I often see is recovery and new beginnings,” Drake said.
Drake said getting tattooed is like new-age meditation, and working through the pain feels like therapy.
But don’t take his word for it: Ildiko Gray just got his fourth tattoo in celebration of his birthday.
“For me, it’s a combination of the experience of going into the studio, being part of the art that’s happening, and expressing myself in this way,” Gray said.
Gray said all of this provides great mental stimulation that will last for years to come. But it’s not always easy.
“This is about intentionally setting yourself a challenge, overcoming it, and learning what you’re capable of, and then writing 5,000 emails to your boss after this,” Gray said.
In other words, intentionally inflicting pain means things might not feel so bad afterwards.
Similar philosophies have been studied all over the world. Take, for example, the yin yang. This centuries-old symbol often represents good and evil, and how good and evil cannot exist without each other, just as pleasure cannot exist without pain.
It’s like running a marathon: while you’re running it’s really hard, it may even hurt, but once you finish it, you feel like you can do anything.
A 2016 study from the University of Alabama found that having multiple tattoos may improve your body’s ability to fight off colds and help you recover faster if you do get sick.
What Drake said is something he can relate to.
“I really, really don’t get sick. Honestly the only time I get sick is when I get too many tattoos. And then I get really tired. The only illness I get is tattoo fatigue,” Drake said.
But to solve that problem, he hired a few apprentices, like Avery Faye.
Faye said the tattoo community and culture is what drew her to tattoos, but she also notices positive changes in people who get tattoos.
“I think tattoos have great mental health benefits, especially for people who are struggling with their relationship with their body. I have a lot of clients who say getting a tattoo makes them feel euphoric or in control of their body – whether they’re transgender or gender non-conforming, have body dysmorphic disorder or just don’t like something about their body,” Fay said.
If tattoos aren’t your thing, that’s okay, but the next time you see someone covered from head to toe in tattoos like Drake, know that they may be benefiting from their tattoos — maybe it’s because they’re part of a community of like-minded people, maybe their tattoos are what they love most about themselves, or maybe it’s because they have a much higher pain tolerance when they go through a tough time in life.
Approximately 32% of Americans have at least one tattoo.
