Art as a Coping Strategy During the Pandemic

Abstract: Introduction: The Covid-19 pandemic has had a direct impact on medical student training, through the sudden change from face-to-face to remote learning and the stress and anxiety caused. Students need coping strategies for the sake of their mental health and to deal with situations of extreme anxiety. Experience Report: during the pandemic the ELAM (Study of Literature and Art in Medicine) group has sought to help students in lockdown deal with their mental struggles by promoting discussions on literature through texts it has produced, debates on social media and, primarily, through art activities such as watercolor painting and visual arts. Twenty-four watercolor paintings, videos, collages, chronicles and poems were produced. The main themes addressed were: love (N=2), ageing (N=2), sin and religion (N=4), life cycle (N=6), cancer, chaos, wisdom, mortality (N=3), time, looking and seeing (N=2) and regionalism (N=2). Discussion: Essential measures to tackle Covid-19 include social isolation, physical distancing and restrictions on people’s movements to prevent the rapid spread of the virus. When youngsters lack the mechanisms to cope with the resulting stressful situation, a series of mental disorders can be triggered, such as depression, anxiety and mood swings. Reflecting a broader trend in medical training, medical schools are increasingly investing in curricular content involving arts, and at this particular moment in time this represents an important coping strategy for students trying to deal with the pandemic. Conclusion: Getting through this difficult period of the Covid-19 pandemic has demanded a coping strategy to help students experience and vent their fears, where art has been the best form of expression, and the ELAM group has achieved such a strategy.

摘要：

引言：新冠疫情（COVID-19 pandemic）通过将面授学习（face-to-face learning）突然转为远程学习（remote learning），以及由此引发的压力与焦虑，直接影响了医学生的培训工作。为维护自身心理健康并应对极端焦虑状况，医学生亟需掌握应对策略。

经验报告：疫情期间，ELAM（医学文学与艺术研究组，Study of Literature and Art in Medicine）通过编撰文本开展文学研讨、在社交媒体平台发起辩论交流，以及主要依托水彩绘画、视觉艺术等艺术创作活动，帮助封控中的医学生纾解心理困境。本次活动累计产出水彩画作、视频作品、拼贴创作、纪事散文与诗歌共24件，涉及的核心主题涵盖：爱情（N=2）、衰老（N=2）、罪恶与宗教（N=4）、生命轮回（N=6）、癌症、混沌、智慧与死亡（N=3）、时间、观察与审视（N=2）以及地域主义（N=2）。

讨论：防控新冠疫情的核心举措包括社交隔离（social isolation）、物理间距（physical distancing）管控以及限制人员流动，以遏制病毒的快速传播。若医学生缺乏应对由此产生的压力的有效机制，则可能引发抑郁、焦虑与情绪波动等一系列精神障碍。呼应医学教育的整体发展趋势，医学院校正逐步加大艺术类课程内容的投入；而在新冠疫情这一特殊时期，此类艺术课程亦成为医学生应对疫情的重要应对策略。

结论：新冠疫情的艰难时期亟需可帮助医学生体验并宣泄恐惧情绪的应对策略，而艺术正是最佳的表达载体，ELAM组成功构建了这一可行的应对方案。