I think you are going about it slightly the wrong way - if this is a place for people with depression and you yourself have suffered from it, you should absolutely take your own experiences into account as you are designing. You should also think about the idea of this being a framework for people to come in and make it what they want - be it a place to receive mental healthcare services, a place to socialize in small groups, a place to be alone. Everyone's journey through depression is different. Some people crawl into a cave. Some people take an international vacation, some people socialize like no other to combat it. We all have our own devices we use.

Go for it, and keep us posted. This is an interesting beginning.

Look at the DSM 5... study symptoms of depression and really understand them. Once you have a firm grasp, you can more easily find a site by doing a site analysis and filtering aspects of the site that are favorable to people with symptoms of depression.

http://www.psnpaloalto.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Depression-Diagnostic-Criteria-and-Severity-Rating.pdf

I would suggest studying a positive emotional state instead.

^ That's a cop out. What kind of thesis would "I want to make a place where everyone will be happy" be? That's a damn Chuck E. Cheese.

Zumthor seems to be a strong proponent of personal experience and memory shaping what one designs.  I see no reason, at all, why you can't use your own experience.

Hell, my entire thesis was centered around the idea that some sensory reactions create stronger memories and that we then make assumptions about space based on those memories.  Most of my writing was based on personal experience and perceptions. 

z1111 i like ur suggestion..plz will u elaborate this?

http://www.designandhealth.com/

I would look at some recent discussions of healthcare architecture. not because you are necessarily doing a healthcare project, but because recently there has been a lot of focus on making places like hospitals less depressing.

I don't know Josh, maybe..........tolerance?

archi15,

Introspective experiments are inherently confounded, but can lead to some interesting ideas.

I would suggest Personality Assessment Through Movement by Marion North as a start.

What kind of thesis would "I want to make a place where everyone will be happy" be? That's a damn Chuck E. Cheese.  

Lol.  Keep in mind the highest suicide rates by a huge margin are middle aged white males, not teenagers.   So when you look around Chuck E Cheese, it’s those Dad’s in there who look like they want to take a bullet to the head that you might consider how awfully close to the truth that can be.  

The problem Part II:  You can't make a space that caters exclusively to the white middle aged men.  So you have a Prozac dispenser in a large baby blue room and call it good.   

archi15,

Depression is a mental disorder and is not just feeling bad. I don't think your survey or your sampling method will give you any relevant data.

I would look at some of the evidence based design and research that has already been done.

Wait..isn't designing a place a final project? isn't a thesis normally a research paper.

thesis

noun

noun: thesis; plural noun: theses

1. 1.

   a statement or theory that is put forward as a premise to be maintained or proved.

-where would it be? : in my bed, covered to the neck with blanket

-who would be there? : my family

-what would you do there? : just snuggle as a one big family lol

my family is weird..

Weighted blankets.

how does space address depression?

how does space address people with depression?

what do you want out of space when you are depressed?

what do you want to do when you are depressed?

what do mental health professionals recommend patients to do to help move forward?

what are the self help strategies that people with depression use to manage their condition?

what can interior space do to assist? what can exterior space do to assist?

what are the tools that allow patients to manage their depression? How are those tools arranged in the world? Are they close to each other? Should they be? Should they not be?

What do you want to accomplish? Is your thesis about assisting people? Or is it about calling attention to a public health issue? Or is it about an art space that is an intellectual/emotional exploration for those that visit?

the bar.

2016 PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES, I get more depressed as they go on

"place for people suffering with depression"

I thought this was going to be Archinect's new slogan.

Instead, it's "Balkins-free for 43 days and counting!"

I think climate and being outdoors in the sunlight for significant periods have more to do with treating depression it than rearranging the couches inside. I had a friend who lived in Seattle for a while and he had to move to South Carolina to get out of the gloom, it was driving him over the edge. He is quite happy and adjusted now.