Demand for mental health facilities on the rise

2021-01-07T11:32:00-05:00

For decades, psychiatric hospitals were grim settings where patients were crowded into common rooms by day and dorms at night. But new research into the health effects of our surroundings is spurring the development of facilities that feel more residential, with welcoming entrances, smaller living units within larger buildings and a variety of gathering spaces.

Architecture and interior design firms have reported an increase in demand for mental health facilities, writes Jane Margolies for The New York Times. "At the design firm Architecture+ in Troy, N.Y., one or two major mental health facilities are typically in the pipeline, with total construction costs for those projects at about $250 million a year, said Francis Murdock Pitts, a principal and founding partner. Last year, the firm was working on 16 large mental health projects totaling about $1.9 billion," she explains.

Moreover, Margolies goes on to outline a case for an "evidence-based" design approach intended to "lessen patient and employee stress and aggression" in hopes of facilitating a more fruitful treatment process.

Putting entire cities on the psychiatrist's couch

2015-07-01T12:59:00-04:00

Rule No. 1 for long life: Stay active, keep the blood flowing. Rule No. 1 for urban planning: Never close an artery.

It's well known that strong social ties can benefit an individual's mental health. Investment in a community can help people to cope with the stress of traumatic events, physical disability, aging, and simply the everyday banal. Cities, the natural biomes of most humans, then become a strong influencer of community and individual psychologies.

This fascinating New York Times piece looks at the career of Mindy Thompson Fullilove, a psychiatrist whose work with entire cities imagines them as a functioning body – one that needs all its parts to remain connected and coordinated in order to thrive.

For more on the psychology of urban environments:

Archinect - News

Demand for mental health facilities on the rise

Putting entire cities on the psychiatrist's couch