Solastalgia

I’m currently fighting bouts of depression. I think almost everyone who has been studying or living abroad experience this. For some, it can be very severe. For my case I think I’m on the borderline. However I can’t help but notice how it’s effecting my professional and personal life. It seems to have a ripple effect on my family as well as their futile attempt to cheer me up doesn’t seem to work.

But I know now what it is. The depression I’m talking about is called Reversed Culture Shock. It’s the process of reentering into an old environment that one has left. There was a short talk about this during my farewell function. Everyone goes through this and everyone deals or coup with it differently.

When one first set upon studying or living in abroad, it’s full of excitement and enthusiasm with chances of meeting new people and new experiences. But that soon will fade as one will encounters people that are different, thinks a little bit different and can be seen as backwards and not meeting one’s expectation. So we have to summoned up our patience and tolerance and face the fact that there people who are just different. We learned to adjust and adapt quickly to our new surroundings in order to cope.

Upon returning, we too will feel the same excitement and enthusiasm as we are now faced with new challenges. But once back we will feel that not everyone is as excepting of your ideas, your way of thinking. Some may even seem backwards. We will feel isolated and misunderstood, an outcast. We now need to summon up those same patience and tolerance we once did and now used it to adapt back into our own society.

Solastalgia is a term coined by Glenn Albrecht to describe a form of homesickness or nostalgia one gets when still at home. Albrecht is an Australian Philosopher. He link solastalgia with reverse culture shock. There are basically 4 stages; 1. Disengagement, 2. Initial Euphoria, 3. Irritability and hostility and 4. Readjustment and adaptation. I think I’m on the third stage.

However severe it affects someone, we must learn what it is and what’s causing it. Only from then we can move on. I hope to move on to the fourth stage soon. Cause this feeling of bitterness is beginning to consume me.