It sounds like that my title on this post is vague and both topics are not even related at all. Well, on the surface designing and mental health don't really connect at all. As a designer, I feel like they are fundamentally connected and are interdependent with each other.
I remember when I was still a junior at an Interior design firm, my boss told me that she was less creative when she was pregnant. She didn't directly tell me that but she made us revised all the drawings that she designed when she was pregnant. She openly stated to us that she's not happy with the design after she gave birth. I didn't really what's happening back then but since I was a junior I just simply follow her instructions. Together with the whole team, we had to work on the revisions the whole night.
Designing for a demanding client on a tight timeline is a really stressful job. Trust me that's the worst part of my profession and it makes me feel like hell when in that situation. That's why it feels normal to have sleepless nights which could even lead to insomnia. I had it once and I'm really thankful that I pull through it.
Throughout my professional life, the best part of it is when I was designing for my parent's house. Even though I was working on a tight budget I'm still happy working on it since I had all the freedom to exercise my design ideas and implement it during the construction of the house.
I know there are more stressful jobs than designing, it all depends on how a person can cope with the stress. There should be some form of release on all of the negativities that life brings us. It should not be kept deep within us. Instead, there should be some form of therapy to release it and keep it out from our system.
What helps me in dealing with this kind of stress is physical activities like exercise and or sports. There was a time when I was full-time working for a construction company, I had to spend about an hour in a treadmill right after my work to keep my thoughts away from my stressful job. The act of running stimulates good cell production and excretion of toxins out of my body. It also helps me sleep better at night and be energized for next day's work. It kept my sanity stable and helps me cope up better against stress.
It looks like I talked enough about my thoughts about mental health and so I'll just drop here my latest 3D visuals for today.
Here's the final result:
While here are some of the screenshots of the 3d views:
Thank you for checking on my post.
Have a great day/night, everyone!