How to Handle Homesickness after a Move?

 

When you have just completed your local move, there are high chances that you will be affected by the feeling of homesickness. Leaving your old house meaning leaving your old locality, old friends, old neighbors, old shopkeepers etc. This might cause a good deal of grief that you are likely to feel sooner or later. However, you need to think logically. You can take some small steps to get more and more familiar with the people at your new locality. This way you can do away with the homesickness.

Steps to detect homesickness:
There are nearly four major risk factors for homesickness. These include feelings of unfamiliarity caused by a new experience, your attitude toward the new experience, your personality and ability to get familiar with new people and certain external factors. The external factors might include how much you wanted to move in the first place and how your friends and family back home are taking it.

However, it cannot begin unless you identify your homesickness. You need to accept the fact that you have homesickness and it is perfectly normal, especially when you have completed a move. Here are some important steps that you need to take to deal with homesickness:

Do not set a timeline
Certain times, you feel homesick even before the completion of your move. You might just feel so at the time of moving itself. Sometimes, this feeling hits you only when you have been in your new place for a few months. You certainly cannot predict as to when this feeling actually arrives. There is no fixed point of time here. However, when this feeling arrives, you need to always acknowledge this feeling. Only then can you accept this feeling, right? Just keep in mind that you cannot control your feelings, no matter how much self-control you have. Keep in mind that too much control can stress you out.

Accept how you are feeling but do not delve into it
Usually, depression or anxiety from a mental health disorder is permanent. But, homesickness is situation-driven in most cases. Many feel homesick for some period of time. This happens when you are out of your element. However, you do have some control over how you let it affect you. Instead of clinging to what you’ve lost, try to embrace the newness. You can talk to your friends and family back home when you need to. However, you must try to focus less on obsessively keeping in touch. You should focus mainly on building new relationships that can help you go back to your normal self.

Try to keep a positive mindset even when you feel troublesome
You must never lose hope that your future or present can be nothing as compared to your beautiful past! You should have hope that the magic can be recreated again. You certainly can come across warm people just like you had before. You certainly can make good friends at your new locality just like you had before. You can actually come up with several ways to recreate your past in your new context. You can, thus, use nostalgia to seek clues about what makes you feel genuinely happy. Identifying your own emotional health and accepting it, you can recreate a beautiful present as well as future!

Generate a good network
Try to maintain the friendship with your old friends. Just try to be in contact. At the same time, make new ones too. There is no harm in making new friends. Thus, you have fewer chances of feeling lonely or anxious. It certainly takes time to make good friends and that is how it is. So, just go with the flow! Sometimes, you are not sure from where to start. You can seek ways to form relationships with similar-minded people at your new place. You can try to be a part of a social activity as well. You can volunteer opportunity that is about something that interests you in the most genuine way. This way you can feel more connected to your new home for sure. This way you can socialize well. Doing so, you feel really good and confident.

Change your old routine
Establish new ways of living if the old ways are not working for you! This is why they say changes are good! For example, you can adopt a pet. You can take library membership. This will make it easier for you to overcome loneliness. You can self-pamper by treating yourself to a nice restaurant!

Go out whenever possible
Staying at home can make you less sociable! Whenever you have free time, just move out. This way you are less likely to feel isolated. When you get out of your comfort zone, you feel more and more productive as well as excited. Keep in mind that in order to engage with your new environment, you should make efforts. You can go to nearby restaurants, libraries, parks, and other recreational centers. This will help you to get familiar with your new place way faster.

Take care of yourself
You must take care of yourself. No matter how sad you are, you must never neglect your physical health. You certainly will feel good when you start caring about your own physical health. Engage in regular exercise. It will not only make your body feel better but your mind too. You can try taking exercise out of the home. You can go to a gym. This way you can meet new people as well.

Try writing down
You can write down your thoughts. This will help you to know yourself better, whether you are in a state of happiness or sorrow. This way you can even identify patterns of distress. When you genuinely write, you get more clarity about your thoughts. You can get clarity of your feelings as well. This even leads to a healthy form of self-conversation. This habit will help you to confront and accept your feelings, no matter how sad or happy they are!