MILWAUKEE — When you walk inside Walker’s Point Tattoo Company, you’re greeted by the buzzing sounds of tattoo guns and conversations between artists and clients.

Tom Aldana owns Walker’s Point Tattoo Company. His wife, Alyson, manages the shop. They both said those conversations, and getting to know people through designing their tattoos, are the best parts of the job.

The Aldanas now have proof that the conversations can be lifesaving. The team at Walker’s Point Tattoo participated in a study by the Medical College of Wisconsin called, “Art on the Skin, Lifesaving Within: Exploring the Role of Tattoo Artists in Suicide Prevention.”

The study was led by Dr. Sara Kohlbeck, a suicide prevention researcher at Froedtert and the Medical College of Wisconsin. The idea for it came to her while getting a tattoo.

“What I sort of recognized as I spent time in a tattoo artist’s chair is that there’s a lot of conversation that happens,” said Kohlbeck. “Similar to how people react to their barber or their beautician, you open up about your life as you’re spending multiple hours with these tattoo artists.”

The tattoo artists who participated in Kohlbeck’s study revealed something staggering.

“The majority of the artists that we surveyed — and we surveyed about 80 artists — have all had a client at least one point in their career that they were concerned about in terms of mental health or suicide,” said Kohlback. “And quite a few had clients disclose suicide ideations to them.” 

The Aldanas said they’re taking this research to heart.

“I answer a lot of client inquires, and you just come across hearing all of these stories, and why people are getting certain designs they’re getting,” said Alyson Aldana. “I know of the potential. This opened my eyes to the opportunity to help more people.”

“We can do our part to be a listening ear,” said Tom Aldana. “Or let people know there are services here. People sometimes just need a nudge in that direction, like a licensed therapist.”