Why is the Tattoo called Stress Relief?

Getting a tattoo can help relieve stress in a few different ways. For example, you might get one to mark the end of a difficult period in your life. Some people also get tattoos to symbolize personal difficulties or trauma or to memorialize people they have lost.

• Tattoos reduce stress

In addition to immunoglobulin A, the above study also tested for cortisol levels. Cortisol is a stress hormone. It was tested in the study because cortisol is an immune response suppressant.

Multiple tattoos were found to reduce cortisol levels, improving the immune system benefits of tattoos, but also helping with stress reduction. High levels of cortisol are associated with many of the physical and mental detriments of stress:

• Migraines/headaches
• Increased weight gain
• Inhibited memory & learning
• Elevated blood pressure

And that is just to name a few. The body produces cortisol in an attempt to reduce pain. But the associated effects aren’t always worth this benefit. Multiple tattoos result in the cortisol hormone response to be less active. That means less cortisol is produced, resulting in stress reduction.

• Tattoos provide confidence & self-esteem

Those with tattoos know the confidence associated with fresh ink. It’s exciting and you want to show it off – like an amplified version of the feeling you get after a really good haircut. But it turns out that the confidence boosting effects aren’t just for new ink.

A study of 2,395 college students found a correlation between tattoos and self-esteem. And the more tattoos, the bigger the confidence boost. Respondents with four or more tattoos had significantly higher self-esteem than those with less. This was especially among those who reported a history of depression.

The cause for this may be that a tattoo gives you a sense of control over the self. And allows you to reclaim something that has been lost or taken.

• Tattoo reduces cortisol levels in the body

Cortisol is a stress hormone and its increase results in increased stress levels. When a person goes through the tattooing process, it reduces cortisol levels. As a consequence, the stress levels are decreased in the person. Stress itself can further cause many diseases and health conditions. Tattoos contribute to the prevention of many diseases indirectly.

• It helps improve the immune system

When someone undergoes a tattooing process, their immune system faces some improvement. The reason for that is when an outside material (tattoo ink) enters a human being’s body, the immune system attacks that ink. This may also cause a little swelling in some people on the spot of a tattoo.

In the case that someone goes for multiple tattoos, his immune system would go through this practice numerous times, hence improving further every time. The immune system’s response improves when it sends antibodies to the spot where the tattoo artist is making a tattoo. It helps in the healing process too.

• Tattoos make people feel good

Whatever we like, we need to include it in our life. Even if something is not in our reach, we satisfy ourselves by setting the image of that thing as a wallpaper on our laptops or mobile phones. A tattoo sort of plays the same role, but in a magnified manner. A tattoo makes people feel good because it expresses an integral part of their life and personality.