Instituto de Psiquiatria, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
Yale School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
Psychopathology. 2024;57(3):169-181. doi: 10.1159/000536135. Epub 2024 Mar 11.
The COVID-19 pandemic had significant repercussions for the everyday life and public health of society. Healthcare professionals were particularly vulnerable. Here, we interviewed medical residents about their lived experiences during the pandemic to offer a phenomenological analysis. To this end, we discuss their pandemic experiences considering Jaspers' "limit situation" concept - that is, a radical shift from their everyday experiences, to one causing them to question the basis of their very existence.
We interviewed 33 medical residents from psychiatry and other specialties from the Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo (HCFMUSP) who either (a) worked directly with COVID-19 patients or (b) provided psychiatric care to other healthcare professionals. Semi-structured interviews were developed using the Inductive Process to Analyze the Structure of lived Experience (IPSE).
The descriptions of the lived experiences of medical residents during the pandemic were organized into four content themes: (a) existential defense, (b) limit situations during the COVID-19 pandemic, (c) changes in lived experience, and (d) new world meanings through lived experience.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, medical residents experienced what can be thought of as a "limit situation," as they encountered the healthcare delivery challenges coupled with the social isolation imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. These challenges included fear of infection and potential death, uncertainty about the future, and the emotional overload caused by the sharp increase in patient deaths. That said, after facing such a limit situation, residents reported feeling strengthened by this experience. This is consistent with the notion that when confronted with limit situations, we draw on our resources to overcome adversity and, in turn, reap existential gains. Health care providers might use these experiences to energize their own professional approach.
COVID-19 大流行对社会的日常生活和公共卫生产生了重大影响。医疗保健专业人员尤其容易受到影响。在这里，我们采访了一些住院医师，了解他们在大流行期间的生活经历，以提供现象学分析。为此，我们根据雅斯贝尔斯的“极限情境”概念来讨论他们的大流行经历，即从日常生活经历的根本性转变，使他们质疑自己存在的基础。
我们采访了来自圣保罗大学附属医院精神病学和其他专业的 33 名住院医师，他们要么（a）直接与 COVID-19 患者一起工作，要么（b）为其他医疗保健专业人员提供精神科护理。使用归纳过程分析生活经验的结构（IPSE）开发了半结构化访谈。
住院医师在大流行期间生活经历的描述被组织成四个内容主题：（a）存在防御，（b）COVID-19 大流行期间的极限情境，（c）生活经验的变化，以及（d）通过生活经验获得的新世界意义。
在 COVID-19 大流行期间，住院医师经历了可以被认为是“极限情境”的情况，因为他们遇到了医疗保健提供方面的挑战，以及 COVID-19 大流行带来的社会隔离。这些挑战包括对感染和潜在死亡的恐惧、对未来的不确定性，以及患者死亡人数急剧增加所导致的情绪过载。也就是说，在面对这种极限情境之后，住院医师报告说他们从这种经历中获得了力量。这与当我们面对极限情境时，我们会利用自己的资源来克服逆境，并因此获得存在主义收益的观点一致。医疗保健提供者可能会利用这些经验来激发自己的专业方法。
