Bataan Peninsula State University

College of Engineering and Architecture

Architecture Faculty

A Support Center for People who Suffers Depression and Anxiety Disorder

Architecture and its effect on Mental Illness and its Environment

Presented by Group 6:

Arguelles, Zarah Joy L.

Datu, Sherrie Mae A.
Dilao, Geraldine T.
Tejada, Geraline Aira G.

Presented to:

Ar. Cecelia Umagtang, UAP

Chapter 1:

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

“The Filipino’s Perception of Depression and Anxiety Disorder is Just a Drama”

Philippines suicide rate have been escalating rapidly through the years. Research
shows that even though years have passed by, the Filipino’s still lacking concerns about
Depression and Anxiety Disorder. Depression is a phase, and the only way to cure it is to
continue moving. There are a lot of people nowadays who feel this emptiness and lack of
willingness to do anything but are unable to discuss what they are feeling because it is
not something that is easily understood especially in a country like the Philippines where
certain mental disorders are not yet understood.These are some of the reason why
Filipino are still close minded about the issue; The Catholic Church which is one of the
biggest influencers here in the Philippines doesn't accept it and the disgrace that will be
brought upon to the family.
 
In the Philippines, one in five people suffers from a mental health problem. In a
country with a population of 100 million, there are presently only 700 psychiatrists and a
thousand psychiatric nurses. The statistics are worrisome. But more alarming is the fact
that a national mental health law has yet to be enacted despite the urgings of various
advocates. According to the latest numbers from the new Philippine Health Information
System on Mental Health (PHIS-MH), schizophrenia is the top mental health problem in
the Philippines, affecting 42 percent of the study group. Most of them were male. Other
mental health disorders in the list are depression, anxiety disorder, schizoaffective
disorder, acute and transient disorder, and stimulant-related disorder. Between 17 to 20
percent of Filipino adults experience psychiatric disorders, while 10 to 15 percent of
Filipino children, aged 5 to 15, suffer from mental health problems. According to the
National Statistics Office (NSO), mental health illnesses are the third most common
forms of morbidity for Filipinos. Furthermore, a 2010 national census that found 1.4
million people with identified disabilities showed that mental disability accounts for 14
percent of all disabilities. In the same NSO study, 88 cases of mental health problems
were reported for every 100,000 Filipinos.

The Researchers comes up with this problem through various incidents involving
those who seems joyful but deep inside their dying: to talk to someone, to speak up whats
on their mind and to let out the pain inside them.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

In conducting this research, the Researcher will not only gain knowledge about the
issue and create a more suitable environment for the people who suffers from it.
Although there are Mental Health Care Facilities in the country, both public aand private,
these are insufficient and poorly linked. Generally, these facilities are mostly within the
National Capital Region, making availability a challenge to those in remote province. It
is made worse by the fact that more than half of these psychiatrists work for profit,
mostly in private practice, depriving many low-income sufferers of medical access and
support. In this research, this is the problem that they want to solve:

“To improve their Depression and Anxiety Disorder by Staying on Support Center”
 With the Sub-Problem: How to make them understand that Depression and Anxiety
Disorder is not something to be ashamed of”

At the end of this reaserch, they hope that everyone who suffers from this problem
can and will receive the understanding they need.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The Researchers are prepared to design a Support Center that helps the people itself
to relieve, relax their mind and to build up themselves again. This Support Center is
thoughtfully design with the purpose that it will benefit the persons suffering from
Depression and Anxiety by making them feel safe, comfortable and let them believe in
themselves that they can be save. This Support Center will be more attentive to the
patients because the President Rodrigo Duterte just approved the Mental Health Law or
Republic Act 11036 that provides PhilHealth coverage for mental health patients’
confinement, check-ups and medicines, and the opening of units dedicated for them to be
attended by health workers.

Mental health includes the emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects
how a person think, feel, and act. It also helps determine how people handle stress, relate
to others, and make choices. Mental health is important at every stage of life, from
childhood and adolescence through adulthood.

GOALS AND OBJECTIVE

SCOPE AND DELIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
JUSTIFICATION OF THE STUDY

Architecture can affect one self. Many research shows that urban living has a
significant impact on mental health like those who live in the city is 21% more promising
to develop anxiety disorder while those who grew up in the city are twice to develop
schizophrenia to those who grew up in the province or countryside. Sunlight and
darkness can also contribute to this- while being in a well-lit are generally considered to
reduce stress, darkness can provide a sense of value and safety. A professor at the
University of Minnesota, Joan Meyers-Levy, reported that the height of the rooms ceiling
affects how people think. Having higher ceiling encourages people to think freely than
the sense of confinement prompted by the low ceiling. Another study in 2000 by an
environmental psychologist Nancy Wells and her colleagues followed 7 to 12 year-old
children before and after the family move. They evaluated the panoramas from windows
in each old and new home. The study found that the kids who witness the greatest
increase in greenness as a result also gains most on standard test of attention. Another
experiment, including college students with views of nature from their dorm rooms and
those who overlooked entirely man-made structures, resulted in a higher measures of
mental focus with those views of nature. A theory by Stephen Kaplan and Rachel Kaplan,
both psychologist at the University of Michigan, said that gazing on natural scenes have
the result of a restorative effect on the mind. He said that the task of the modern world
can engender mental fatigue, whereas looking out at a natural setting is easy and can give
the mind a much needed rest.
 This lead the researchers to study the proper planning on which can help a person
who suffers from mental disorder itself. They think that there can be a structure－with
the proper planning of its wall, ceiling height, natural ventilation, natural lighting and
natural greenery or landscape－can assist someone who will stay in it.

DEFINITIONS OF TERMS, ABBREVIATIONS AND CONCEPTS

Depression- a state of low mood and aversion to activity, can affect a person's
thoughts, behavior, tendencies, feelings, and sense of well-being. Symptoms of the mood
disorder is marked by sadness, inactivity, difficulty in thinking and concentration and a
significant increase/decrease in appetite and time spent sleeping.

Anxiety Disorder- are a group of mental disorders characterized by significant

feelings of anxiety and fear. Anxiety is a worry about future events, and fear is a reaction
to current events. These feelings may cause physical symptoms, such as a fast heart rate
and shakiness.

Suicide- is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders,
including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, and
substance abuse—including alcoholism and the use of benzodiazepines—are risk factors.

Psychiatrists- is a physician who specializes in psychiatry, the branch of medicine

devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, study, and treatment of mental disorders.

Schizophrenia- is a mental disorder characterized by abnormal behavior, strange

speech and a decreased ability to understand reality.

Schizoaffective disorder - is a mental disorder characterized by abnormal thought

processes and an unstable mood. The diagnosis is made when the person has features of
both schizophrenia (usually psychosis) and a mood disorder—either bipolar disorder or
depression—but does not meet the diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia or a mood
disorder separately.

Acute and transient disorder- The occurrence of delusions, hallucinations, or

incoherent or incomprehensible speech, that reach their full intensity within 2 weeks of
starting.

Stimulant-related disorder- Stimulant-related disorders include stimulant

intoxication, stimulant-use disorder, and stimulant withdrawal. They result from abuse of
a class of medications known as stimulants, which include a wide range of drugs such as
amphetamines, methamphetamine, and cocaine.

Psychiatric/ Mental disorders- Mental illnesses are health problems that affect the
way we think about ourselves, relate to others, and interact with the world around us.
They affect our thoughts, feelings, abilities and behaviours.

2.3 LOGICAL ARGUMENTATION

The researchers used Logical Argumentation in its methodology. They believe that
Architecture affects the stability of its environment. It is known to others that it have a
positive and negative effect. One of its negative effect is on mental health of its
occupants. Many studies said that as an Architect, with the right planning and designing,
you can create a structure — that will deliver the proper environmental stimuli to the
senses that can help the people.

1. Depression and Anxiety Disorder can be develop when you are living in the city or in a
place where you have limited space. According to the study, there’s a 21% chance to
have depression and anxiety disorder when you grow up in a city and having a low
ceiling can have a sense of confinement.

2. Architecture affects its occupant behavior. According to another study, every person
gives a different behavior based on it indoor environment. The improvement of air
quality, acoustical conditions, visual or lighting quality and aesthetic status are the
inhabitants required for being able to adjust to its indoor environment.

3. Mostly, students and workers developed depression and anxiety disorder. According to
the study, students are very susceptible to suffering mental health problems. With the
reasons being pretty obvious, fears of debt, workloads, practical training, pressure and
over thinking. Looking at the study, more female students are reported trying medical
advice for mental health with 29% than male having 23%. The school grounds and the
workplace also affects them. Research shows that students having high structure all over
their surrounding are suffocated and workers not having a decent workplace also adds to
this,

This research project and thru this method, the researchers highlighted problems such as
how to properly plan a support center, or to add new space planning parameters. The
researchers agreed that every building design parameters should be fully incorporated
into support centers in order to provide the positive impacts it have on its occupants.
CHAPTER 3:

3.1 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

http://trendingphilippines182.blogspot.com/2014/05/suicide-and-depression-in-
philippines.html

This article is about how Depression is tackled here in the Philippines. It also
shows the symptoms of depression , what can be done for the patients and how
the Filipino attend to it.

https://today.mims.com/mental-health-in-the-philippines--by-the-numbers

This article is about the statistics. The study shows that the psychiatrist -to-
patient ratio is worrisome. Mental Illness is the third most common forms of
morbidity in the Filipinos. Schizophrenia is the top mental health problem. The rate
of Filipinos suffering are: 17 to 20 percent of Filipino Adults suffered from
psychiatric disorder and 10 to 15 percent are Filipino children. Insufficient budget
also leads to degraded number of facilities.

https://www.manilatimes.net/mental-illness-still-neglected-in-ph/289277/

This article talks about the stigma about mental illness here in the Philippines
and how the very said country doesn’t have a Mental Health Law which will help
the patient and centers.

https://medium.com/@srkshivangi.01/impact-of-architecture-on-human-psychology-
f0b637714603

This article discuss the impacts of Architecture in our Human Psychology. It

shows that it is our utmost importance to regard the person psychological needs in
mind while designing a space. Knowing the way how environment affects a person
would enable a design that can influence the behavior of that said person.

http://remezpress.com/SMF/index.php?topic=236.0

This article discuss how architecture affect people. It is said that the buildings
design and spaces in between affect ones mood and behavior. Having closed space
to each other like in rural areas will let you know your neighbors while living in
urban space, having independent units, is not. Also having high and side-by-side
structure can make the people passing feel pressured because of the great
differences in height.

http://ounodesign.com/2009/05/02/how-rooms-and-architecture-affect-mood-and-
creativity/
 This article talks about how architecture and rooms can affect mood and
creativity of some one. Having high ceiling height will let your thoughts be free than
low ceiling height which can even led to suffocation and the feeling of being
confined. Natural Ventilation, and landscape affects a students and workers
behavior.

https://unitec.researchbank.ac.nz/handle/10652/3847

This article is about the transition that happened from Older Institutional
Hospital to Community based Mental Health Care over the years. As a result,
modern community hospital forgotten about the architectural aspect that can help
and connect to the betterment of the patients. When designing hospital or any
building, an Architect must look at this five areas: safety, social connectedness,
ease of movement and sensory stimulation.

3.2 CASE STUDIES

The Center • A Place for HOPE (The Center For Counseling and Health
Resources, Washington)
Source: https://www.aplaceofhope.com

A Place for Hope aims to help people with mental illness by providing
them a treatment center that will help people recover from their mental illness.
The Center- A Place for Hope was founded 30 years ago by best-selling
author, speaker and innovator in behavioral healthcare, Dr. Gregory Jantz, that
operates in 547 Dayton St, Edmonds, WA 98020, USA. It offers variety of
treatment services including whole-person treatment that is focused on the
medical, physical psychological, emotional, nutritional, fitness and spiritual
aspects of each person seeking help. The Center is dually licensed for psychiatric
issues as well as addiction treatment. Where each person receives their own
dedicated team that will guide them through their treatment.
The Center’s almost all programs focuses on the symptoms of depression
and frequently prescribed pharmaceuticals. There is also a little focus on
childhood issues and potential instances and physical, emotional or sexual abuse.
There was little if any focus on the role poor diet, exercise and sleep was having
on our mental health.

Sierra Tucson Treatment Center (Hollywood Pavilion, Florida and Walden

behavioral Care, Massachusetts)
Source: https://www.psychologytoday.com
https://www.sierratucson.com
 Sierra Tucson is a treatment center who helps people who is a drug addict
and have behavioral health issue by providing a center that will help people
recover from such illness.

Sierra was founded in 1983 located in Hollywood Pavilion , Florida and

Walden Behavioral Care, Massachusetts. It has been providing clinical and
effective treatment for all who are entrusted in their care. It is recognized for
providing safe and successful treatment for those who are struggling with
addiction and behavioral health disorders.

Sierra Tucson focuses on providing integrative system of neuropsychiatric

care for the emotional, physical and spiritual healing of individuals and families.
It also offers variety of programs such as: Addictions/ Co- occurring Disorders,
Eating Recovery Program, Mood & Anxiety Program, Pain Management
Program, Program for Trauma Recovery, and Assessment & Diagnostic Program.

Treatment Centers:

1. Walden Behavioral Center

a.) Walden Behavioral Center- Inpatient Unit
b.) Walden Behavioral Center- Residential Treatment
c.) Walden Behavioral Center-Waltham Outpatient Clinic

2. The Sunset Malibu’s Depression Treatment Center

APPLICATION: