11/2/2015

SEMINAR
ROLE OF ARCHITECTURE IN REHABILITATION
OF ADDICTION/ DRUG ABUSE

Architectures role in Rehabilitation of Addiction/ Drug Abuse.

ABSTRACT
Drug addiction nowadays is common in almost one in three persons we met and its affecting large part of
age group of young teenagers giving birth to unwanted crimes, causing problems in your relationship and
social life. As a result person lost his/her ability to maintain his status in community and live a normal life.
As a human being, they have the rights to be rehabilitated as the best way in rebuilding their individual and
social life. The purpose of this study is to learn about Drug abuse, behaviour of the abuser and the spatial
behaviour of an individual with the habit of drug abuse/ addiction and how architecture can be used as a
tool for rehabilitation. Architecture could be a part of recovery process in the curing of drug abuse and
addiction. Healing architecture helps people to restore and relieve their mind and soul that affect the body
through access to the built form and spatial analysis. Lighting and colours has its own effect on individual
to individual, with reducing direct sunlight and promoting natural day lighting through means of
architecture interventions and also spatial behaviour has its own role, like a room with no plastering and a
room with proper finishing can change the mood of an individual dramatically. Aesthetics plays a major
role in swinging the mood of a person. Drug abuser has its own psychological problems and depends on
the Drug abuse. Those problems effect the way of designing the building and landscape. The principles of
healing architecture can solve those problems and create the design concepts. The healing architecture
design concepts are outlined in the landscape design, masses placement, and interior design. Larger
courtyards senses as an open air multipurpose gathering space. The various atmosphere of the spaces with
the harmony of nature could be the solution for psychological problem. Organic pattern from healing
architecture creating the environment to be an architecture design that heals. Incorporation of natural system
with respect to design in the day to day activities of an individual can play a key role in changing the mindset of a person. Sense of privacy should be provided to the person by means of built environment.

Keywords: Rehabilitation, Therapeutic Design, landscape, human performance, built environment,

Kinesthetics

INTRODUCTION
Drug addiction is a chronic, often relapsing brain disease that causes compulsive drug seeking and use,
despite harmful consequences to the drug addict and those around them. Drug addiction is a brain disease
because the abuse of drugs leads to changes in the structure and function of the brain. Although it is true
that for most people the initial decision to take drugs is voluntary, over time the changes in the brain caused
by repeated drug abuse can affect a person's self-control and ability to make sound decisions, and at the
same time create an intense impulse to take drugs.
It is because of these changes in the brain that it is so challenging for a person who is addicted to stop
abusing drugs. Research shows that combining addiction treatment medications, if available, with
behavioural therapy and community support is the best way to ensure success for most patients. Treatment
approaches that are tailored to each patient's drug abuse patterns and any concurrent medical, psychiatric,
and social problems can lead to sustained recovery and a life without drugs.

Problems related to substance use:

Neglecting responsibilities at workplace, school, colleges or at home like skipping
your tuition classes, low performance academically and staying away or alone for
most of the time.t do you think?
It results in indifferences in relationships of an individual such as fights with your
family members or your partner, losing a good old friend etc. do you think?
Change in behavioral attitude such as not being the same person when being with
friends or family or partner. What do you think?
Losing temper easily and getting into nasty things for petty issues. What do you think?
Frequently getting into fights, accidents and illegal activities. What do you think?
Lack of motivation, feeling lethargic. What do you think?
Anxiety and Irritation.

FACTORS THAT LEAD TO DRUG USE:

Peer pressure

For performance enhancement

Curiosity

Social pressure

Influence of role models and so on.

Chief among these are ignorance of the facts about addiction and the potency of drugs, and
the complacency about the danger of drugs.

Drug Types:

There was a perception in all the communities, both from key informants and respondents that
there had been an increase in substance use. The five most commonly used substances, in order
of frequency of use included:

Alcohol

Heroin

Opium (including crude opium resin, opium pod huskdoda)

Cannabis (as ganja, charas, hashish, bhang, marihuana)

Other Opiates

CAUSES OF ADDICTION:

Doctors say there is a link between the repeated uses of an addictive substance and how the human
brain experiences pleasure - its use has a nice reward, leading to further and more frequent use.
The addictive substance, be it nicotine, alcohol or some drug actually causes physical changes in
some nerve cells in the brain. Another name for a nerve cell is a neuron. Neurons release
neurotransmitters into the synapses (empty spaces) between nerve cells, which are received by
receptors in other neurons.

Neurotransmitter - it is a chemical that a nerve cell releases, which thereby transmits an (electric)
impulse from one nerve cell to another nerve cell, organ, muscle, or other tissue. Put simply, a
neurotransmitter is a messenger of neurologic data from one cell to another cell.

After a while, the user of the potentially addictive substance does not get the same pleasure and
has to increase the dose - his/her bodys tolerance to it increases.
Eventually, the user no longer experiences pleasure from the substance and takes it simply to
prevent withdrawal symptoms - taking the substance just makes them feel normal.
Experts say that when tolerance increases, the risk of addiction is much greater.

IMPACTS
Underage drinking is a causal factor in a host of problems, including homicide, high risk sex,
suicide, traumatic injury, drowning, burns, violent and property crime, fetal alcohol syndrome,
alcohol poisoning, and the need for treatment for alcohol abuse and dependence.

Tragic health, social, and economic problems often result from substance abuse by adolescents.
Substance abuse is a causal factor in a host of problems, including homicide, suicide, high risk
sex, traumatic injury, drowning, burns, violent and property crime, fetal alcohol syndrome, alcohol
poisoning, and the need for treatment for substance abuse and dependence

SCENARIOS
Modern rehabilitation facilities are synonymous with the prison system, in the way in which they
function by isolating individuals from the general public in order to rehabilitate them. However,
the exact opposite is accomplished as the isolated institutional atmosphere only delays
rehabilitation and consequently creates patients that come to be a replication of their environment.
Past and present models of healing centers advocate the isolation of people from society with the
intention of replacing the undesirable distractions associated with an urban lifestyle with the more
desirable effects of a rural one, which is believed to increase the rate of healing.

However, the disorientation and confusion created by removing and isolating a patient from their
everyday life and environment ultimately challenges the permanency of treatment success. The
environmental conditions of a healing space, when compared to a patients home, are
understandably different, and this disparity often results in a patient associating their rehabilitated
self with the center where they received treatment, and their un-rehabilitated self with their
home, creating future psychological imbalances that in many cases result in addiction relapse.

Throughout history, people have sought to escape the stresses associated with urban living. This
desire to escape the busy urban conditions of cities is still very much a reality today in providing
a mental retreat for relaxation and the opportunity to psychologically rebalance. This further
demonstrates our human desire to be close to nature and the necessity of a healing environment
within an urban context

BACKGROUND

Therapeutic Environment theory stems from the fields of environmental psychology (the psychosocial effects of environment), psychoneuroimmunology (the effects of environment on the
immune system), and neuroscience (how the brain perceives architecture). Patients in a healthcare
facility are often fearful and uncertain about their health, their safety, and their isolation from
normal social relationships. The large, complex environment of a typical hospital further
contributes to the stressful situation. Stress can cause a person's immune system to be suppressed,
and can dampen a person's emotional and spiritual resources, impeding recovery and healing.
Healthcare architects, interior designers, and researchers have identified four key factors which,
if applied in the design of a healthcare environment, can measurably improve patient outcomes:

Reduce or eliminate environmental stressors

Provide positive distractions

Enable social support

Therapeutic Architecture

Give a sense of control

Architecture plays a vital role in all professions, not only in providing an conducive physical
environment within which the practice of such professions are carried out but also in arresting the
psychological environment which affects the perception and response of the people concerned.

Architecture as a rehabilitative tool is cantered on the psychology of the structures environment as

a therapeutic tool. Architectural spaces constitute a major element of the psychology which exerts
a profound effect of the emotional well-being of the people who experience them. The social and
therapeutic interaction of people within such spaces also exerts an effect on each individuals selfesteem.
There are two ways of characterizing environment in architecture:
1. The objective environmentThis includes all identifiable physical and social factors.
2. The psychological environmentWhich consists of those aspects of the objective environment which a person comes into
contact with and which affects his perceptions and responses.

THE ROLE OF THERAPEUTIC ARCHITECTURE:

The term therapeutic architecture has evolved into a recognised concept as a reaction against the
austerity of modern treatment facilities. This concept embodies the vision of well-designed
architectural spaces that encourage healing and human wellbeing.
The concept does not propose that the architecture itself has the ability to heal, but that the
architectural manipulation of space can provide the platform for other natural factors like sound,
light, colour, privacy, views, and even smell to promote a healing environment that effects the
physical and psychological healing of patients.
The 21th century, with its rapid technological advancements and the fast paced evolution of medical
science in combination with the architectural focus primarily on functionality and rationality has in
many cases resulted in our inhumane healing environments.

EFFECTS OF LIGHT, SHADOW AND COLOUR PSYCHOLOGY

Natural light and the suns rays are recognised as elements capable of promoting healing and thus
should form an integral part of the design of buildings constructed specifically for rehabilitation.
Benedetti has proved that patients exposed to an amplified concentration of natural sunlight
perceive less stress, require less medication and even experience less pain. Sunlight can also be

perceived as a form of psychological motivation in its utilisation in the creation of a healthy,

therapeutic environment.
The balance or imbalance of a space can so easily be altered through the play of light and always
in combination with forms, colours and natural elements. The quality of light can be manipulated
and adapted to ultimately create the ability of transcending individuals into an alternate state of
consciousness that could essentially be recollected in memory, after its lived experience.
LIGHT AND SHADOW
Light and particularly the life-giving rays of the sun, have been well documented as a major
determinant of vitality and wellbeing, more so in therapeutic environments where such positive
natural stimulants can go a long way towards developing the desired attitude to individual change.
In therapeutic architecture therefore, the way sunlight is utilized is one of the factors in creating a
healthy environment and psychological motivation. The way the corridors are lit, the way the
windows are placed throughout the building to reflect warmth and how light and shadow appears
in the space, can affect the balance or imbalance of rooms, always in conjunction with color, shape,
interior design and landscape features. Once again its all about the way the senses perceive the
surrounding environment, the degree that space resonates with the individual self. Marilyne
Andersen of MIT is amongst a group of young architects and researchers who have become
increasingly aware of the importance of incorporating sunlight in building design.

For

Day,

sunlight is a
great part of
the spirit of
place

and
directly

associated
with physical and psychological health. Its all about energy and mood and how it positively
connects people with their environment, particularly so when it comes to a long and arduous
process of self-healing, such as in addict therapeutic communities. Daylight is also closely
associated with kinesthesis and as Day argues, natural light through what he calls interactive
directions, constantly changes the colors and shadow dynamic, stimulating the eye, which is

essentially for health, Leibrock offers a host of ideas on how public areas in treatment centers can
become more sensory-positive, for example waiting areas, as she points out, where patients and
their families will feel more comfortable when provided access to nature and natural light. This can
be achieved with the waiting area (or for example group therapy areas in the case of therapeutic
communities), being designed in an atrium or adjacent to a courtyard. What is clear to Leibrock is
that natural light deinstitutionalizes and humanizes the space, making residents feel they are not
enclosed, but receiving therapy in a home-like environment, more so in terms of therapy.

COLOR PSYCHOLOGY
Color psychology has also been identified as a
tool capable of improving human behavior,
moods and emotions. Architecture and colour
have the ability to visually stimulate patients
and the surrounding society; this can provoke
and elevate positive or negative emotions.
These emotions are triggered through our
mental perceptions of colors in relation to the
association of these colors with certain past
personal events or cultural beliefs. Societys
emotional response to color is based on shared
psychological associations of certain emotions to certain colors.
Architecture should integrate the power of colour into modern healing environments to evoke and
stimulate certain emotional responses and use it as a tool to manipulate and control the experience
of space as desired.

ROLE OF KINESTHETICS AND LANDSCAPE IN REHABILITATION:

The sense of movement in a space, deriving from the combination of the Greek words kinisi and
aisthisi has been said to affect the way the individual reacts to the building, how it marks their

behaviour, mood, how it creates and maintains a positive or negative attitude to the particular
situation they are facing. Architecture can become a strong determinant in the successful
kinesthetics of individuals, particularly in the case of people with psychological imbalances such
as drug addicts, who have joined therapeutic communities seeking to regain the peace of their inner
self in order to build or regain their social identity. So the way they are able to physically interact
with their surroundings, the kinesthetics of human bodies, can be said to be decisive in how they
adapt to their daily routine in a group community.

COMMUNITY BASED REHABILITATION:

Community Based Rehabilitation refers to a specific integrated model of treatment for people
affected by drug use and dependence in the community which provides a continuum of care from
outreach and low threshold services, through detoxification and stabilization to aftercare and
integration, including maintenance pharmacotherapy. It involves the coordination of a number of
health, social and other no specialist services needed to meet the patients needs. Strong support is
also given to the patients family and the community to address the drug and alcohol problems in
their complexity and to ensure efficient and long-term results.
Some of the benefits of community-based treatment include the following:
It is a less invasive approach than other treatments (e.g. Residential, hospitalization, intensive
treatments, etc.)
It facilitates patients access to treatment.
It is less disrupting of family, working and social life
It focuses on social integration from the beginning
It is appealing for patients
It is more flexible than other modalities of treatment
It fosters patients independence in patients natural environment
It is affordable for patients, families and the community
It educates the community to reduce stigma
It focuses on community empowerment.

FINDINGS

Lighting and Views

Patient rooms looking out on sunshine, rather than cloudy or drab conditions are linked with
more favorable outcomes. The study found that patients if assigned to a lighter room rather than
room without appropriate lights. Questionnaire studies indicate that patients prefer window views
of spaces illuminated by sunlight rather than cloudy conditions. Window and views from a
window are believed to have an effect on patient recovery.

Photometric and glare study

Design spaces with multiple sources of lighting.

Create transition zones for spaces or within a space.

Do not rely solely on the objective index of quantity of light, but also consider the
subjective human visual comfort.

Creation of transition zones is advantageous for both window and space designs.

DISCUSSION
A review on the study of daylight in Therapeutic design as discussed in, provides unequivocal
evidence to suggest that the physical aspects play an important role in the subject of healing
environment in rehabilitation. Poor considerations may have an effect indirectly on the health
outcomes of patients. On the contrary, creating a healing environment would contribute to
eliminate the stress factor for patients. Therefore, the study of daylight in hospital buildings is
pertinent and significant to enhance the body of knowledge in the field of architectural building
science. On the other hand, the subject of healing environment requires a multidisciplinary
approach and in-depth understanding of various disciplines. Architecturally, critical analyses on
the conflicting issues: physical to physical (e.g. daylight versus solar heat gain) and physical to
psychological (daylight vs. undesirable glare) aspects are important and within the scope of the
study. Achieving the balance and compromise on these aspects would satisfy the appropriate
ambient environment of healing.

What do you th

CONCLUSION:
Architecture now needs to change and adapt its traditional perceptions of institutionalization to
create an environment that stimulates all the human senses and deviates from the past disapproved
approaches of institutional design. We need to integrate rehabilitation into our citys fabrics to be
part of society, generating community interaction and promoting a social environment.
Therapeutic architecture Approach has to be explored with the use of kinesthetics and community
based rehabilitation. Landscape has to be incorporated with the built form of the structure creating
buffer zones, private spaces and social spaces.
RESULTS

Rehabilitation plays an important role in a persons life to live a normal healthy life.

How a person performs to a built environment is the key to the therapeutic architecture
approach.

Architecture can help a person rehabilitate by the means of understanding the needs and spatial
behavior of an individual.

Artwork and aesthetics can enhance the soothing and calming qualities of a space.

Reduction of environmental stresses and creation of a social environment can be achieved with
the help of healing architecture.

Landscape can also be used for a therapeutic (healing) environment.

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Chalfoun, N. (2008). Basic principles and Concepts of lighting.

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