Homesickness

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What is Homesickness?

When you are homesick you may crave things that are familiar to you such as your family, old friends, your house, your pets, your neighborhood or even your mom's home cooking. When you are homesick you'll probably miss the things in your life that you "used to" have.

 

Why am I feeling this way?

You may be feeling lonely, sad, or even anxious; sometimes you may get stomachaches, headaches, or feel depressed. This may be due to the stress of the "unfamiliar".  Once your new surroundings feel more familiar to you, these feelings generally go away.

How do I deal with homesickness?

• Make a photo album or scrapbook of your favorite things about home and share this with your roommate or new friends.
• Call home or friends from your hometown more often.
• Decorate your new room with stuff from your room at home: posters, pictures of family and friends that remind you of home.
• Join groups or clubs at school to be more involved and to stay busy.
• Try writing a journal about your college life; include these feelings to get them out in the open.
• Talk about it. Talk to your new friends, roommates, or RA.  They too may be feeling the same way. Or go to the WKU Counseling & Testing Center and get some support if it becomes too overwhelming.

Things to remember:
• Adjusting to school life will take some time.
• Don't look to bad habits to make this go away (things like drugs, alcohol and sex are not going to make this better).
• Almost everyone has been here at one point or another.
• And most importantly remember it's "OK" to feel this way!