Counselling Service

Home Sickness

The Problem
What can you do to help yourself?

The Problem

Many students coming to college, and maybe leaving home for the first time, feel homesick. Even those who didn't ever expect to be hit by homesickness can suddenly find themselves missing the familiarity of home and friends, and don't know quite how to cope with the resulting emotions. This is entirely normal and passes, usually in the first term, and often within the first few weeks.

It is really important to realize that you are not the only one feeling homesick and that it doesn't in any way mean you are inadequate. Suddenly, you find that, instead of being a central person in a small unit with plenty of peripheral activities and friends, you have become an anonymous member of a four thousand plus community where you know no-one. Understandably you feel shaken and lonely and you long for the secure and the familiar. Sometimes the emotions are completely overwhelming.

What can you do to help yourself?

Most importantly: acknowledge your feelings and accept them. Believe that they will pass. They almost always do.

Decide whether the best policy for you is to have frequent contact with home (because contact makes you feel better), or little contact (because contact makes you feel worse). Think carefully about whether or not to go home at weekends (if this is possible). Some students find it helps to ease the transition; others find the constant readjustment makes them feel worse. If you happen to be a localite, we will recommend you not visiting home very frequently, and try staying in hostels so that you can spend more time with your friends, and also try your hand at various extra curricular, which are usually organized on weekends.

Make a real effort to join various clubs, develop a new hobby and to make at least one or two friends. This might feel very difficult, but the more you feel part of campus life, the less homesick you will feel. Involve your self in various activities going on in campus. The extracurriculars help you learn new things and it offers an excellent way to meet people in the early days.

Try to establish a routine as soon as possible. The fuller your days are, the less time you will have to feel homesick or lonely.

Sometimes it helps to share feelings of homesickness. Think about talking to your room mates, your friends, your SGs, senior members of counseling service, or your Faculty Counsellors. We can assure you that more often than not, the person you are talking to would have had experienced this problem in his early days, so he can really understand you and help you out. Sharing these feelings may take you over the worst period.