Bekah Miles' new tattoo is unlike any other.

While the ink on the 20-year-old student's leg appears to read “I'm fine”, from her viewpoint, when read upside down, it says “save me”.

It's a carefully crafted, powerful statement created to help others understand what depression feels like and it's now going viral.

“It reminds me that people who may appear happy, may be at battle with themselves,” writes the university student from Newberg, Oregon, in a message alongside photos of her tattoo on Facebook.

Miles was herself diagnosed with depression last year and says she believed it was a problem for some time before that. “Mental illness is serious, but so shamed in our society,” she writes. “We care so much for our physical health, but hardly a thing about our mental state. And that is seriously messed up. Mental illness is not a choice and will likely hit everyone at some point in their life. If it’s such a huge issue, why aren’t we having this conversation about it?”

“That’s why I got this tattoo; they are great conversation starters. This forces me to talk about my own struggle, and why the awareness of it is important.”

But even Miles couldn't have predicted the reception her new body art would receive.

“I'm fine” - or “save me”? Woman's tattoo illustrates what it’s like to suffer from depression