Moving away from home to go abroad to study, work, can be a life-changing decision. You might end up in a completely new city for university or to take your dream job. Being miles away from your home can make it difficult to travel frequently to visit your family. So, all these challenges can make you homesick at least once in a blue moon. So while in college or a new city one thing sure to affect you is homesickness.
What is homesickness?
Homesickness is the grief caused by being away from home. But it is nothing serious. Homesickness can feel mild for many people, just like a little rumble in our stomach during the beginning of a roller coaster.
If you have homesickness after going away on a trip, it signifies our healthy attachment to loved ones and shows how much you care, miss, and love them.
How To Help A Homesick Friend Overcome Homesickness In College or Hostel?
The major side effect of homesickness is that you may not enjoy your trip or your vacation to the fullest due to worrying. But sometimes, extreme homesickness can lead to anxiety and depression.
In a study conducted by Thurber, he said. “When homesickness is terrible, it’s hard for people to eat, sleep, or interact with others.”
What are the common symptoms of homesickness?
- You may feel demotivated to do any task.
- You begin feeling very lonely.
- You constantly keep thinking about home.
- You may feel irritated with even the simplest of situations.
- You may begin missing the people, things, and places associated with home.
- You may be constantly anxious or feeling depressed.
Simple ways to deal with and overcome homesickness
1. Be prepared
It would help if you were prepared for the emotions that will come your way during the trip. Even if you have been super excited about your trip, you may still become homesick. Hence, always be ready.
Other emotions, along with homesickness, are anxiety, depression, and gloominess. It’s nothing to be worried about. Being prepared for various homesick emotions will help you deal with it in a better way.
2. Maintain a Journal
Always maintain a journal during your drip. Whenever you feel down or lonely, please write it down in the journal. Writing will help you channelize your energy and sadness into words. Along with sad emotions, also note down all the happy things too. This will help maintain a balance, and in this way, when you re-read your journal, you will have positive memories mentioned in them too.
3. Keep your mind distracted from home
Whenever you feel the homesick emotion is taking over your mind, get up and get moving. Go to a mall, go to a pet shelter, go to a park, rent a movie, put on your dance shoes, or do something that makes you happy. Keeping your mind distracted can be very helpful in dealing with homesickness. It is also advisable to avoid alcohol to distract your mind. Instead, cultivate a new hobby or learn a new skill. There’s more to this world than just being sad.
4. Socialize
Socializing is the best way to get rid of homesickness. Along with this, you will also get to make new friends, interact with local strangers, and get to know something more about the new place. Volunteering can also be beneficial in socializing with new people and, at the same time, making this world a better place.
5. Bucket List can be helpful
Before you leave for your trip, make a bucket list of the different things you plan to do on your trip. This is another way to help you stay busy and won’t leave you much time to stay homesick. You will always be looking forward to completing the next task or visiting the next destination on your bucket list.
6. Revisit something from your hometown
If you are still finding it extremely difficult to cope with homesickness, the best thing you can do is revisit something that reminds you of your hometown, like a restaurant. Call up your hometown friends and loved ones and talk to them. Stay in the limit, though because, continuously talking to someone at home can make homesickness worse.
Research shows that doing things you feel nostalgic about can help you feel better. A study also states that if you’re moving for work or study purposes, decorating your new room with the stuff from home, putting a picture of your family on the wall, or playing the music your family enjoys, can help you settle and deal with being away from home and reduce the big changes after leaving home.
Final Thoughts On How to Overcome Homesickness,
Everyone gets through feeling homesick at their own pace. Getting over homesickness is not a process you can rush. Remember that it’s a very normal and completely understandable reaction and that it’s okay to miss home once in a while. Apart from these, don’t be afraid to try your own strategies to cope up with homesickness. Most importantly, homesickness can affect your health too, so don’t forget to take good care of your physical health.
Do you know any other tips to overcome homesickness? Leave behind your comment. Also, do not forget to subscribe to us for more content. You can also follow us on our social media channels mentioned below.
