Qupic - Design Therapy?

Sammanfattning: According to a recent report by “Syria Relief” organisation, 75% of the Syrian Refugees who left Syria in the last six years are suffering from at least seven symptoms of Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Youth refugees are not finding the support they need; some of them are not even aware that they need it, which leads to a lack of communication and understanding in the evaluation of their mental state. This project aims to show how a creative design process can play a crucial role in providing mental health support and to explore the possibility of design therapy as an addition to conventional forms of psychological support. Therefore, one of the main research questions is can we have “Design Therapy” similar to Art Therapy. Qualitative research was conducted in the form of semi- structured interviews with ten different people, all of which are 20-29 year old Syrians living outside of Syria and suffering from PTSD symptoms. The results showed a considerable need for communication. Following a creative process, based on the interviews and Plutchik’s wheel of emotions, examples of psychological tests were made. Furthermore, inspired by the lobes of the brain, a concept item was designed. This item gains its shape from translating the psychological tests’ results into pieces of visual information. At this stage, Qupic is a memorable object to remind the interviewees of the importance of communication. With more time to put on research, testing and more consulting from experts, Qupic has the potential to be used as a pedagogical or an archive tool.