A Space for Mental Resilience

Our existence acts in a space. we are always moving away or towards, or being still in a space. Our own experience of finding ourselves depends on the space. Shape and re-shape space can reveal and define a great many of our values, aspirations, insecurities, and concerns. As broadly acknowledged, place identity was initially introduced by Proshansky (1978), who defined place identity as “those dimensions of self that define the individual’s personal identity in relation to the physical environment by means of a complex pattern of conscious and unconscious ideas, feelings, values, goals, preferences, skills, and behavioral tendencies relevant to a specific environment” (Proshansky, 1978, p. 155).

“People’s inter-relationship with physical space and environment, reveal their fundamental stance or dialogue towards their existence.”
– Binswanger, 1963

1. Think of how you experience different kinds of space. What spaces provoke a mood of comfort or peace for you?
2. What spaces excite and stimulate you?
3. What spaces provoke unease and discomfort?
4. Reflect on how your experience of being in the spaces considered above affects your relation to yourself, to others and to the wider world.

Significance of mental health

Mental health is crucial to the overall well-being of individuals, societies, and countries. The magnitude, suffering, and burden in terms of disability and costs for individuals, families, and societies are staggering. Globally, IT is estimated that as many as 450 million people suffer from a mental or behavioral disorder, and reread one million families have at least one member with a mental disorder.

Mental and psychological well-being encompasses the way you feel about yourself, but also the way you deal with external situations and the quality of your relationships. It’s important to remember that positive mental health is not simply the absence of mental health issues, such as depression or anxiety. Being mentally healthy is predominantly about the presence of positive characteristics such as a feeling of purpose, contentment, maintaining fulfilling relationships and participating in life to the fullest.

Positive mental health allows you to enjoy all the activities you want to participate in. It doesn’t mean you will never be sad or go through emotionally challenging times. However, those with positive mental health will be able to bounce back more easily from these experiences – this is called mental resilience. Having mental resilience means individuals have the tools to cope with adversity, trauma, and stress.

According to NHS, there are 5 steps you can take to improve your mental health and wellbeing. The most significant feature towards suggestions that foster mental wellbeing is related to the physical environments. for example, trying to make better external situations by connective with others, and having a nutritional meal and enough exercise. Thus, as an Urban Designer, It is worth considering how space and environment affect people’s mental health care.

Lost connections (Johann Hari)

There is someone who explored the sources and effects of depression people trying to understand the root cause of depression. Johann Hari is a British-Swiss writer and journalist. In his book ‘Lost Connections’, He pointed out that depression is not just something that happens through chemical imbalances only or predisposition, but it has to do with the social and the political and that it has to do with our lifestyles.

9 causes of depression (6 relevant here)

1. Disconnection from meaningful work
2. Disconnection from other people ‘Every human instinct is honed not for life on your own, but for life in a tribe. Humans need tribes as much as bees need a hive
3. Disconnection from Meaningful Values (materialistic extrinsic values)
4. Disconnection from Status and Respect, the Higher the inequality the higher the depression and anxiety
5. Disconnection from the Natural World: ‘biophilia’ strong association between living in green areas and lower depression levels, being out in nature also gets us away from our ego, inducing a feeling of awe. The grandness of the world can put our individual problems in some perspective
6. Disconnection from a hopeful and secure future, lack of security ‘gig’ economy

Mental Health and city Living.

Urbanization is taking people out of the villages and into the big cities. according to UN World Urbanization Prospects 2018 and others, By 2050, 2/3 of the global population will live in cities. Thus, caring for public health is getting a more important component. However, Mental health is not made as important yet compared to the other component of making a city and well-being. Whether we are aware of it or not, cities have a great impact on our lives as a living environment. Since City can make us sad by a risk factor for depression, anxiety, and schizophrenia caused by Stress, Isolation, pollution, lack of safety, lack of greenery, lack of community. At the same time, Cities can make us happy through enabling interactions with others, being felt a sense of safety, connection with art and public space, availability of amenities.

Mental Health in Urban Areas

Experts advise spending time in green spaces as an effective way to improve mental health. It does not only reduce levels of stress but also enhanced physical activity that may promote health. There is strong evidence that living in greener environments is associated with better mental health. The recreational aspects of well-maintained urban green and blue spaces are apparently associated with the mental well-being of urban populations. Urban green and blue features additionally have the capability to buffer urban heat island effects and to reduce heat stress. Moreover, the urban street canopy can reduce the “oppressive” effects of tall buildings. In addition, urban density (as opposed to sprawl) has been associated with better mental health as it comprises better access to resources (e.g. parks, playgrounds, health-, and social care). Less green space may indicate more traffic noise and worse access to neighborhood resources, which may lead to low housing rents attracting low-income groups. Work in the field of environmental justice may offer more insights into these relationships and may help further promote mental health in urban areas.

This can be useful evidence for improving mental health even in national disaster situations such as Pandemics. According to a study by the British Mental Health Foundation, 50% of adults across the UK visited green spaces in August 2021 to cope with the stress of the pandemic. This suggests that providing quality public space (e.g. green space) will actually help improve mental resilience in a pandemic situation.

Conclusion

As more people flock to cities, interest in mental health care in urban areas is emerging. Having mental resilience is more necessary in national disaster situations such as pandemics. It is effective to provide green public spaces at the national and community level to enhance such mental resilience. It is also important to enhance connections with families and friends and provide a quality physical environment to urban residents to foster mental health resilience. As an Urban Designer, it will become increasingly necessary to study the necessity and influence of these public spaces. As we have witnessed during the coronavirus pandemic, communities that have safe and green environments, good quality, accessible public services and well-developed social networks are better able to cope with disasters.

References

Hari, Johann. Lost connections. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2020.

Proshansky, H. M.  The city and self-identity. Environ. Behav. 10, 147–169, 1978

Peng J, Strijker D and Wu Q (2020) Place Identity: How Far Have We Come in Exploring Its Meanings? Front. Psychol. 11:294. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00294

5 steps to mental wellbeing (2019) Available at: https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/self-help/guides-tools-and-activities/five-steps-to-mental-wellbeing/

Source from

https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/urban-and-rural-population-2050?country=~OWID_WRL

https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/coronavirus/resilience-across-uk-coronavirus-pandemic