Homesickness

为想家和正在寻求过渡的学生提供的信息和资源 to college life in a healthy way.

Homesickness is a longing for the familiar. It’s common during any sort of transition—camp, college, moving in to your first house or apartment. For some, it’s pervasive and debilitating. Homesickness can present as anxiety, sadness, or fear; all natural reactions 离开舒适的环境，进入未知的世界. For others, 这更像是一种对安全感和可预测性的缺失感 they define as “home.“但不管你有多难受，乡愁 is natural. It’s also possible to overcome. Here are some tips to get you through.

Learn how to identify homesickness

“乡愁的典型特征是反复出现的认知 home (e.g.(房子、亲人、祖国、家常菜、返乡)，以及沉淀压力源总是预期的或实际的与家的分离 clinical report published by the Academy of Pediatrics. So how can you know if you’re experiencing 想家而不是抑郁或焦虑是另一个原因? Ask yourself: 我对现状不满意是因为现状很糟糕，还是我只是怀念过去的生活?

报告还指出，乡愁主要有四个风险因素:

由于新的经历而产生的不熟悉感

(2)你对新经历的态度(有时以为会想家) bring on a self-fulfilling prophecy)

(3)你的个性和适应新环境的能力

(4)外部因素，比如你最初有多想搬家，以及如何搬家 your friends and family back home are taking it.

应对乡愁从能够识别它开始. Once you do, you 能否接受它的本来面目，并采取可行的步骤来克服它.

Don’t give it a timeline

有时候，在你关上老家的门，踏上旅途之前，你就已经想家了 on the journey to your next one. Sometimes the feelings don’t hit you until you’ve 在一个新地方生活了几个月，你的新环境已经开始磨损了 off. 然而，不管这种感觉是什么时候出现的，重要的是要承认它们 and accept them for what they are. There is no right or wrong way to feel about homesickness and no right or wrong time for it to appear. And just as you can’t control when it 首先，当它消失时，不要因为试图控制而感到压力.

Allow yourself to feel sad, but don’t let it define you

与精神疾病引起的抑郁或焦虑不同，乡愁是情境性的. “想家一段时间是正常的，也是可以适应的. It’s just your 情绪和思想告诉你，你不在自己的位置上，”乔希·克拉波博士说，临床心理学家，阿拉巴马大学学院副教授 of Public Health, in an interview with CNN. 因此，你确实可以控制它对你的影响. So 与其执着于失去的东西，不如拥抱新的东西. Talk to your friends 当你需要的时候和家人在一起，但尽量少关注于强迫性的保持 in touch and more on building new relationships that can help make you feel more like yourself again.

Use nostalgia to your advantage

怀旧不仅关乎过去，也关乎未来 study published in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. 不要认为过去是你现在或未来无法达到的. 相反，看看你所留下的最积极的方面，并弄清楚 ways to recreate them in your new context. Did you love playing on a recreational sports league at home? Consider joining an intermural sport here. Miss watching a favorite show with friends? Invite some of your new acquaintances to come to your room to watch a show some night this week. Use your nostalgia to look for clues about 什么让你在家里感到快乐，并把这些东西作为创作的指导方针 a better today and tomorrow.

Build a network

Keep your old friends, but make new ones, too. It’s important to establish a circle 当你在一个新地方的时候，尤其是当你在处理感情问题的时候 of loneliness or anxiety. Not sure where to start? Look for ways to build relationships 围绕共同点，例如参与社会活动或志愿者你所热爱的事情的机会. There are lots of ways 感觉与新环境更亲近，有可以交谈的人 and rely on there is one of the biggest.

Create new routines and transitions

努力建立新的生活方式，使你的新生活与众不同 space from your old one and make it feel more familiar. Even something as simple as finding a favorite breakfast 周末的地方，或者去上瑜伽课的地方，都是积极的一步 putting down some new roots. As your new traditions become commonplace, so too will your life in your new area.

Get out of the house

Feelings of isolation will only exacerbate homesickness. While your new room may feel 就像陌生海洋中的避风港一样，它也很容易变成一个陷阱 keeps you from fully experiencing what’s around you. Make a conscious choice to get out and about every day to engage with your new environment. Try out a few clubs, 参观当地的景点，甚至只是在校园里和市中心走走，看看有什么 there. 你在房间外面呆的时间越长，你在外面呆的时间就会越多 your head (and the quicker you’ll adapt).

Stay healthy

照顾好自己的身体总是很重要的，尤其是如果你有 an additional stressor like homesickness. 锻炼可以帮助缓解短期和长期的抑郁和焦虑，从而帮助你在过渡时期感觉更好. As an added benefit, 把锻炼带出家门并与其他有益的事情结合起来是很容易的缓解思乡之情，比如结识新朋友，出去走走.

Keep a journal

把你的想法写下来是一种很好的方法，可以帮助你理清思路，识别模式 of distress. 如果有帮助的话，给自己一些写作提示，比如“我想念什么? home” or “how my homesickness makes me feel.” Then write truthfully, without censoring your thoughts. 我们的目标不是沉沦，而是理清你的感受，这样你就能 can better communicate it to yourself. Don’t stress if you’re having a tough time staying positive. 而写火博体育思乡的日记的目的是帮助缓解 it, there’s no use denying how you’re feeling in the moment. Use what you write as 这是做出改变的基础，寻找正在发生的具体事情 you down the most and then thinking of ways to combat them.

(The above tips were adapted from Moving.com)