Homesickness
What is homesickness?
Homesickness is associated with thoughts and feelings of missing home sometimes accompanied with sadness, anxiety and/or depression, particularly when in an unfamiliar environment.
Is feeling homesick normal?
Feelings of homesickness are completely normal and natural, but sometimes homesickness can affect some people more than others for no obvious reason.
Below are tips on how to reduce the feeling of homesickness when you move to University.
1. Feel Your Feelings
Let yourself feel what you're feeling. There are times when it calls to keep yourself busy with the intention of not allowing thoughts to spiral, but sometimes avoiding all thoughts and feelings associated with homesickness can have a negative impact.
Allow yourself some time to feel sad, frustrated, cry if you need to - and let your feelings out. It's ok to feel like this. Do not be harsh with yourself or compare your thoughts, feelings and/or circumstances to anyone else.
2. Look After Yourself
It can be easy to forget yourself when moving to a new home, starting university, making new friends, socialising and/or working. This change can be good, but it can also leave less time for you to focus on you which is finally important, especially when dealing with homesickness.
Taking care of the mind and body is a must and some great ways to do this include:
- Getting enough sleep (8 hours a night)
- Staying active (even one walk a day)
- A well-balanced diet
- Staying hydrated
- Reduce caffeine and alcohol consumption
- And finally, do something you enjoy, something new or something you find comforting everyday
All of the above are not cures but will help boost your mood and reduce the feelings on homesickness in the long run. It can be overwhelming when trying to improve various areas of our lives, so we'd recommend starting small and working your way towards other areas.
3. Stay Connected with Others
A great way to combat homesickness is to get involved in new things, especially with others.
- Attend Reslife events in halls when you have the opportunity
- Follow Student Assosiation for opportunities to attend events and to join different societies across the school
- Volunteer with Volunteer Glasgow
Remember to keep in touch with friends and family. While texting can be a quick and easy way to keep in touch, it's a good idea to make time each week to phone or facetime the people closest to you. Just make sure to not over-do it, as reliance on constant communication can prolong homesickness. There needs to be a happy balance and you need to have time to focus on you!
Planning and getting activities and meet ups with friends and family in the diary can have a positive impact, visually seeing things you can look forward to.
4. Make Your Room More Homely
If you are feeling unfamiliar with your space, make it your own. We'd recommend:
- Printing out personal photographs of pets, friends and/or family for your pinboard
- Adding plants for health reasons and for a calming atmosphere
- Lighting can affect mood drastically, why not invest in some good quality fairy lights (battery operated only in halls)
5. Seek Out Further Support
A reminder that if you need further help, support or advice, or know someone else who might, specialist services are available to all GSA students, free of charge. You can find out more details about these services by visiting the Student Support Services intranet page.
