MFA Advising 2018: Nourbano Hijazi
ANXIOUS?
Re-designing Women’s Jewelry to Help Manage Symptoms
by: Nourbanu Hijazi
Advising Committee: Thomas Modeen, Rab McClure and Basma Hamdy
External Advisor: Laura Green
Reader: Michael Wirtz
Health surveys indicate that mental disorder illnesses are as common as physical illness; however, the former does not receive as much attention and focus as the later. Treatments for the various mental disorders are available, however, nearly two-thirds of people who suffer from some form of mental disorder never seek help from a health professional. This is mostly due to perceived stigma and discrimination associated with and against mental disorder patients. Mental disorders stigma and discrimination are observed globally, and are culturally specific. They take on different forms depending on culture and society. Sadly, much of the public perception of mental illness in the MENA region (Middle East and North Africa) is adverse and unfavorable and is not viewed from a medical aspect. This is caused by people, in general, lacking proper understanding of the nature, implications, and repercussions mental disorders have both on the individual and society as a whole.
My design solution tackles behavioral symptoms of anxiety, specifically two conditions that fall under obsessive-compulsive behavior; Dermatillomania (a compulsion to pick and peal ones’ skin off) and Trichotillomania (irresistible urge to pull out hair mostly from ones’ scalp and eyebrows). Re-designing five women jewelry to specialized accessories, that help relieve symptoms of maladaptive behaviors and hurtful impulses resulting from those 2 conditions. By re-directing these irresistible urges to an external artifact, while at the same time still satisfying the user’s impulse.
Anxiety is a common condition anyone can suffer from, the purpose and function of these artifacts is to help the user – a person who has one of these conditions – tactfully and harmlessly manage condition symptoms, thus contribute to more favorable perception by others. This will help destigmatize these mental disorders, and positively impact people’s interaction and communication with others, and possibly prompt more empathic conversations in which people more eagerly and freely share their experience with such mental disorder leading to improved societal understanding and perception.
