Mind The Motion: Local & Live Visualization of Mental Health

Synopsis
51% of students experience mental health problems, 12% of students in a serious way, 26% of students have suicidal thoughts. (1) Not only have most individuals heard of similar stats like these before they might not even be a good reflection on your personal situation.
Beside the perceived 'distance' of the data presented, there isn't direct clarity in how, where and from who the data was gathered. These raw stats do a good job of efficiently communicating, but not with engaging 'users' that view them. Lack of interaction, aesthetic, uniqueness and other factors makes it so it doesn't really support actively thinking about the issue, how it affects not only you but even the people around you. Local use is important because we can not socially care for everyone equally. (2)
What if we could view the mental health imagery of the people around us through data art? Not only to gain insight and promote understanding, but also to stimulate introspection and make you think or reflect on the issue. if used over time it could even help recognize several patterns.

Brief History of Mental Health
In the 1700s and early 1800s mentally ill patients were thought to be religiously punished.
In the mid 1800s, after the American civil war, a mental hygiene movement started to form against the inhumane confinement and stigmatization of such individuals.
From this point forward, slowly but surely mental hygiene became a generally accepted idea.
Several transitions started to take place. Among others the rise of technology, globalization and larger amount of contacts, a decrease in belief in religion and traditional meaning, eventually transitioned from the mental hygiene of severe patients to overall mental hygiene.
In the post-WWII years, references to mental hygiene were gradually replaced with the term 'mental health'. (3)

Why Mental Health is a problem
Studies have shown something that I myself have wondered about; students have a smaller number of close friends in which they can talk about serious subjects. (4)
Considering “mental health problems” currently accepted treatment relies on counseling, talk therapy and reflection, while several studies have shown that talking amongst each other or yourself, even without a professional helps. (5) I believe it to be important to stimulate introspection. Beside this trend there are a few others which exacerbate the problem at hand. For instance; society catering to instant gratification and decreasing attention span. (6), social media leading to unrealistic expectations and comparisons to ourselves(7), chronic loneliness(8) and lack of traditional overarching belief systems like religion. (9)
With all of this, also take into consideration the following: stress from mental health is one of the most unhealthy things you can experience. (10)

What is Mind the Motion, and how does it work?
Mind the Motion is a live input data visualization creating the imagery of the mental health of (the people around) you.
Mind the Motion's live input design makes users aware of what input is going into the visualization, increasing contextual awareness. Due to the light sensitive nature of the topic at hand and to decrease the barrier of entry, users can select a number used to identify themselves. Like the publication of grades with student numbers, this strategy relies on curiosity and human need for comparison in order to start discussion in an accessible manner. Kind of ironic considering it is a factor in the problem at hand.

The input itself is a questionnaire, since mental health is a subjective issue. Almost all other data profiles are verified with a questionnaire to see if they are correct afterwards. Most of the questionnaires used focus on symptoms to clinically diagnose patients. Even though visualization of symptoms could be helpful, this wouldn't create an image of a mental state. Thus after research, a separate questionnaire was created focusing on 8 areas believed to closely resemble the mental state of individuals. The interaction point of the questionnaire was beside the direct QR code link given a simple explanation and absolute positive and negative examples to further increase contextual awareness.

The Visualization is very abstract but adheres to the visual language of mental health as most commonly found online. The strength of data visualization as opposed to an infographic does not lie in the direct perceiving of the data itself. The focus can therefore further emphasize aesthetic, low information, interaction, uniqueness and the artists perspective over explanation and efficiency.

Mind The Motion: Local & Live Visualization of mental health; How are (the people around) you doing?

(1) Veel Studenten Ervaren psychische problemen, Ook Door Corona (2021) NOS.nl - Nieuws, Sport en Evenementen. Available at: https://nos.nl/l/2405226 (Accessed: 2023).
(2) Lindenfors, P. (2021) ‘dunbar’s number’ deconstructed | biology letters, ‘Dunbar’s number’ deconstructed. Available at: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbl.2021.0158 (Accessed: 22 August 2023).
(3) Wallace, M. (1995) The Realization of an Idea, Origins of Mental Health. Available at: https://publichealth.jhu.edu/departments/mental-health/about/origins-of-mental-health#:~:text=In%201893%2C%20Isaac%20Ray%2C%20a,energies%2C%20or%20derange%20its%20movements (Accessed: 2023).
(4) Armstrong, M. and Richter, F. (2022) Infographic: Friendships: Less is now more, Statista Infographics. Available at: https://www.statista.com/chart/28560/number-of-close-friends/ (Accessed: 2023).
(5) Robert S Costanza et al. (2004) Positive and negative forms of social support: Effects of conversational topics on coping with stress among same-sex friends, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0022103188900200 (Accessed: 2023).
(6) Lorenz-Spreen, P. et al. (2019) Accelerating dynamics of collective attention, Nature News. Available at: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-09311-w (Accessed: 2023).
(7) Spies Shapiro, L.A. and Margolin, G. (2014) Growing up wired: Social networking sites and adolescent psychosocial development, Clinical child and family psychology review. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3795955/ (Accessed: 2023).
(8) Hawkley, L.C. and Cacioppo, J.T. (2010) Loneliness matters: A theoretical and empirical review of consequences and mechanisms, Annals of behavioral medicine : a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3874845/ (Accessed: 2023).
(9) Dein, S. (2010) Religion, spirituality, and mental health, Psychiatric Times. Available at: https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/religion-spirituality-and-mental-health (Accessed: 2023).
(10) Cacioppo, J. (2014) Social Relationships and Health: The toxic ... - wiley online library, Social Relationships and Health: The Toxic Effects of Perceived Social Isolation. Available at: https://compass.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/spc3.12087 (Accessed: 2023).
(A) Showcase Image Installation in use Mind The Motion (Created: August 2023).
(B) Use of the term “mental health” vs “mental illness”. Use of terms related to mental health compared with terms related to physical health conditions. (2017) Available at: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpsy/article/PIIS2215-0366%2817%2930088-3/fulltext (Accessed: 2023)