From baking to crafting to art, being creative is a way to channel pain and suffering of coronavirus pandemic, experts say
- Art in all its forms is therapeutic and can be used as a way to channel pain and suffering into some creative and inspiring, experts on mental health say
- With children as young as seven calling the Samaritans suicide hotline, Hongkongers need a way to work through painful and conflicting emotions, doctor says
With many in Hong Kong reeling from the impact of last year’s pro-democracy protests and the coronavirus pandemic, a panel of mental health professionals and an artist recently pointed to the transformative and healing power of art.
Massive societal change is stressful and people usually resolve that stress by channelling it into an activity or even running away, but the restrictions imposed to curb the spread of Covid-19 make that difficult, says Dr Elisabeth Wong, a psychiatrist and adviser at Mind HK.
“With Covid-19 all of us are stagnant and that process alone poses tremendous mental health challenges. It’s a universal experience and all of us are suffering to some degree,” says Wong.
She was speaking at the Goethe-Institut in the city’s Wan Chai district, where she was one of four panellists who met to discuss the topic “Civil Society, Art and Mental Balance” last month. She noted that the worldwide trend towards crafting and baking during lockdowns for Covid-19 spoke to the universal urge to cope with uncertainty and fear by doing something creative and productive.
“The number of young people now who are calling is greater, their distress is greater. For everyone simply there isn’t a light at the end of the tunnel,” says Scofield.