{"id":34429,"date":"2017-04-05T13:00:13","date_gmt":"2017-04-05T20:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/?p=34429"},"modified":"2026-02-13T19:48:55","modified_gmt":"2026-02-14T00:48:55","slug":"founder-of-project-semicolon-amy-bleuel-dies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/founder-of-project-semicolon-amy-bleuel-dies-0405172","title":{"rendered":"Founder of Project Semicolon, Amy Bleuel, Dies"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"SemicolonAmy Bleuel, the mental health advocate who founded global nonprofit Project Semicolon, died at age 31 last month. The cause of death was suicide<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Amy Bleuel and Project Semicolon<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Bleuel founded Project Semicolon in 2013 to honor her father, who died by suicide. The project uses a semicolon to symbolize remaining alive through difficult times. Just as a semicolon denotes a pause in\u2014rather than an end to\u2014a sentence, the semicolon symbolizes moving forward rather than stopping. Many people who embrace the semicolon symbol say they see their lives as unfinished stories.<\/p>\n

The semicolon quickly caught on as an international symbol of hope<\/a>. Semicolon tattoos and art became a way to signal triumph in the face of suicidal thoughts and mental health issues<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Bleuel experienced mental health issues, including depression<\/a>, for two decades. According to the Project Semicolon website, she also dealt with bullying<\/a>, rape, self-harm, and mental health stigma<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Project Semicolon actively solicits stories of hope and triumph to encourage people who have faced similar obstacles to persist, seek help<\/a>, and support one another.<\/p>\n

Suicide as a Public Health Issue<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\n\t

Find a Therapist<\/a><\/h2>\n\t
\n\n\t\t\t\n\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\tAdvanced Search<\/a>\n\t<\/form>\n<\/div>Suicide rates climbed to a 30-year high in 2014<\/a>. Suicide is the 10th<\/sup> leading cause of death nationwide and the leading cause of death among people ages 10-24. While a variety of factors often contribute to suicide, many people who die by suicide meet diagnostic criteria for at least one mental health condition.<\/p>\n

Men are significantly more likely than women to die by suicide. Middle-aged men experienced a 42% increase in suicide between 1999 and 2014.<\/p>\n

Suicide is preventable, and Project Semicolon advises people to notice warning signs and take suicide threats seriously. For help, contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988. The Lifeline also offers a live chat feature here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

To support Project Semicolon, get help, or share your story, visit the Project Semicolon website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

References:<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Curtin, S., MA, Warner, M., PhD, & Hedegaard, H., MD, MSPH. (2016, April 22). Increase in suicide in the United States, 1999-2014. Retrieved from http:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/nchs\/products\/databriefs\/db241.htm<\/li>\n
  2. Facts about mental illness and suicide. (n.d.). Retrieved from http:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/mhreport\/facts_suicide.php<\/li>\n
  3. Obituary for Amy Bleuel. (2017, March 24). Retrieved from http:\/\/www.pfotenhauerfuneralhome.com\/m\/?p=memorial&id=1943951<\/li>\n
  4. Our founder. (n.d.). Retrieved from https:\/\/projectsemicolon.com\/our-founder\/<\/li>\n
  5. Suicide prevention. (n.d.). Retrieved from https:\/\/projectsemicolon.com\/suicide-prevention\/<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Mental health advocate Amy Bleuel has died. She made a large impact on the mental health community with her global nonprofit, Project Semicolon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2555,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[159],"tags":[236],"class_list":["post-34429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-therapy-news","tag-suicidal-ideation-behavior"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34429","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2555"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34429"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34429\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}