Homesickness - A Familiar Concern

Home is the most comfortable place. It’s a place were you make countless memories with your near and dear ones. It’s a place where we are loved the most.

Leaving your home and moving to another city might be quite painful. I understand how it feels and especially for those who have never lived away from their family.

I have seen people dealing with homesickness.

Homesickness has become a very common issue nowadays. Most of you might be staying away from your family as some of you might be working in another city or have moved to another city for your education.

What is homesickness? When does it occur? and what happens when you experience it?

Homesickness is a condition in which a person stays away from his family and starts missing them a lot.

When you are away from your family for a long period of time and want to meet them but you are unable to do so, it can affect your mental health.

For instance, this COVID pandemic had made many people suffer. There are many people who haven’t met their dear ones yet. During these unusual situations, it becomes important for us to take care of our mental health.

So here are a few tips to take care of your mental health when you are homesick

Busy yourself:

During your leisure time, most of you think about your families and start missing them too much.

Busying yourself is one of the most effective ways of not experiencing homesickness.

Engage yourself in exploring new things, plan a day out, or watch a movie to deviate your mind, you can also learn how to cook or else take-up new challenges and work on it.

Family time:

I think technology is a boon for people who stay away from their families. Allot some time every day to talk to your family. This will refresh your mind. Make proper use of technology. Make a phone call or a video call whenever you miss them or make a call in your leisure time. Speak to them for a sufficient period of time and if not possible at least for fifteen minutes in a day but make sure that you are in contact with them.

Share your concern:

When something is worrying you a lot, make a phone call to your dear ones and discuss about it. Tell them what happened? and How it all happened?. You know, sharing your concerns with your near and dear ones will make you feel better. I have experienced this many times, when I share my concern with my dear ones it just makes me feel better.

Count days:

I have seen many of my hosteler friends counting days to go home. When I asked, why do they do that? They said it just keeps them motivated. Especially, They do it before our summer vacation. Counting days is another technique that keeps you motivated.

I feel efforts must be put in from both sides. You should take care of yourself and also your family must support you for having a happy and healthy mind.

And to all those family members who are worried about their loved ones and wants to take care of them,

Here are a few tips that they need to follow when your dear one is living away from you so that your loved one can have a happy mind.

Make them feel special:

Vocalize how much you love them.
Send them a gift or write letters if possible or otherwise text them during special occasions.
Whenever your dear one comes home after a long period of time, Make them feel special by cooking what they like.
Avoid arguing with them
Give them your full attention.
Cancel your plans if there any and spend time with them.

Understand and listen:

Whenever your dear one wants to tell you something always be available for them. Do not ignore them. Even if it’s a very silly concern, just listen and try to understand their perspective of dealing with it. Make them realize that they can always share their concerns with you and make them feel that you are trustworthy. Be non- judgemental. If you want to convince them, try to be polite.

Set Reminders:

If you feel that your dear one is careless about things or his daily routine. Make sure that you remind him every day to have food on time or to drink water on time. Let me give you an example for better understanding: my hosteler friends were always reminded to wake up early, to fresh up soon, and too have their food on time. Doing all these will never make your loved one feel that he or she is alone.

Set a reminder if there is an important meeting or presentation of your dear one. Sometimes they might forget it out of stress. So you make sure that you remind them. If possible you can also give them a morning wake up call so that he or she can reach their college or office on time.

Cheer them up:

Whenever your loved one is feeling low cheer him up by explaining how you encountered your difficulties in life. Comfort them by using phrases like “it’s ok”.

“Everything will be alright “

“Don’t worry”

Visit:

Sometimes because of few reasons your loved one might miss a chance of coming home, in these situations if time permits, you take the initiative of meeting your loved one whenever you have time or else take a pause from your daily schedule to meet your loved one, visit the place where your loved one is residing and stay there for a couple of days. Explore the city with your loved them and also if necessary, you can check their surrounding to find out whether everything is all right and comfortable for your loved to stay there.

Consult a psychologist:

Ask your loved one to consult a psychologist if you sense that he is suffering from mental illness so that he can be provided with pertinent ways to come out of it.