Do you need some strategies for tackling homesickness?
Thursday, 30 March 2023
-
At ECU there are lots of support services to help with mental health.
When you move into a new environment, such as studying abroad or coming to University for the first time, you need to adjust many parts of your life to this new environment.
Studying at ECU presents new routines and environments that may cause you to feel overwhelmed, isolated, and even homesick.
Adjustment to your new environment is different for everyone. Some students experience feelings of isolation and homesickness in the initial few weeks of their adjustments which reduce once they get settled into their new environment.
Other students feel excited and engaged in the first few weeks, which may slowly change to feelings of isolation and homesickness as they start to miss home and the comforts that they once had.
Recent research indicates that anywhere from 25-70% of students experience homesickness at some point in their studies.
Some common experiences that you may have when feeling isolated and homesick include:
- Feelings of sadness, hopelessness, and worthlessness
- Depressed and/or anxious mood
- Becoming irritated with others for no apparent reason
- Experiencing unhelpful thinking styles like catastrophisation or mind reading
- Finding simple tasks overwhelming
- Experiencing difficulties with concentration and motivation
- Decreased self-confidence and increased self-doubt
- Disrupted sleeping and eating patterns
- Heightened levels of procrastination or perfectionism
- Physical symptoms such as light-headedness, muscle tension, headaches, racing heartbeat and detachment from your body
There are lots of things you can do to tackle homesickness.
Give yourself time and space to feel
This is an important and often forgotten step in managing feelings of isolation and homesickness.
Giving yourself time to be homesick, leads to acceptance of your adjustment experience and gives you an opportunity to practice being self-compassionate.
Importantly, give yourself a realistic period to feel your emotions, thoughts and sensations and then follow the below steps to manage your adjustment in healthy and adaptive ways.
Make Connections
Whilst not always easy, making connections is a way to assist you in managing feelings of isolation and homesickness. Connections foster a sense of community that is important in regulating our self-esteem, emotions and mood and makes the adjustment to ECU that little bit easier.
Join a social or sporting club run through the ECU Student Guild, or head to the Fitness Centre on campus.
Attend lectures, tutorials, and Peer Assisted Study Sessions and try to connect with your fellow peers in your course, or maybe look for a volunteering opportunity in the community.
Make the most of support services
Connecting with ECU support services is a great way to meet and connect with staff and fellow students. Take time to explore everything from Psychological Counselling Support to Student Success, Careers and Employability, Learning Advisors and the Medical Centre.
Check out the tip sheets
For more tips on tackling the feeling of being homesick take a look at the tip sheet at Psychological Counselling Support. There are tips sheets for lots of different topics, including living with housemates, time management, dealing with stress and many other topics.