The Hidden Mental Health Challenges of Living Abroad

Moving abroad is often seen as the ultimate opportunity for a fresh start – a chance to reinvent yourself, if that's what you want.

It can be an incredibly exciting time, but it's also a huge leap into the unknown. Alongside the excitement often comes uncertainty, emotional challenges, and moments of feeling completely overwhelmed. There are cultural differences to navigate, unfamiliar systems to figure out, and sometimes very little direction on how everyday life actually works.

Whether you've moved for work, love, study, or simply a change of scenery, adjusting to life in a new country can have a significant impact on your mental wellbeing. The hidden challenges of living abroad are more common than you might think, particularly for expats navigating life away from their usual support network.

"I Should Be Happy"

One of the biggest challenges is the pressure we place on ourselves to feel constantly grateful, especially when moving abroad was our own choice.

You may also have well-meaning friends and family back home saying things like, "But it's exciting, isn't it? What an opportunity!"

And they're right...

It is.

But that doesn't mean it's easy.

You may have worked incredibly hard to get where you are. Perhaps this move has been years in the making, or maybe it happened unexpectedly. Either way, when feelings of loneliness, anxiety, or homesickness begin to surface, it's easy to think:

"I chose this."

"Other people would love this opportunity."

"I should be happy."

That little word "should", carries a lot of weight.

The reality is that, as humans, we're wonderfully complex and capable of feeling several emotions at the same time.

You can feel grateful and overwhelmed.

Excited and homesick.

Invigorated and exhausted.

A major life change doesn't suddenly make difficult emotions disappear. If anything, it can amplify them, whilst convincing you that you shouldn't be feeling them in the first place. Before long, you've added guilt to the mix and started giving yourself a really hard time for feeling perfectly normal emotions.

It's About More Than Just Missing Home

When people think about homesickness, they often imagine missing family and close friends.

Whilst that's certainly a huge part of it, it's often the smaller things that catch us off guard.

Speaking your first language without thinking, instead of mentally preparing yourself for every interaction or being embarrassed because you're still learning the local language or dialect.

Feeling like you belong, instead of like you don't quite fit in yet.

Knowing exactly where to go for your weekly food shop, a coffee, or a walk around the neighbourhood, rather than heavily relying on Google Maps for almost everything.

These everyday moments provide familiarity, routine, and comfort. When they're suddenly no longer there, it's natural to feel unsettled, even if you can't quite explain why.

Starting Again Takes More Energy Than We Realise

Relocating means rebuilding almost every area of your life.

New routines.

New friendships.

A new workplace or career.

Different cultural expectations.

Perhaps even a different language.

Although these changes can be exciting, they also require an enormous amount of emotional energy. Your brain is constantly switched on, processing new information and trying to make sense of everything that's unfamiliar.

So, if you've found yourself feeling more tired, overwhelmed, or emotionally drained than you expected, you're not doing anything wrong.

You're adapting. And like almost everything in life, that takes time.

When Your Support Network Is Miles Away

Whether it used to be coffee catch-ups with friends before work, Sunday lunch with your family or simply a familiar face who knew when something was not quite right with you, those little moments of everyday support often disappear when you move country.

FaceTimes are great, but they aren’t as good as good as a hug from the right person when you had a bad day.

Missing people doesn't mean you've made the wrong decision.

It simply means those relationships matter to you.

Looking After Your Mental Wellbeing Abroad

Some people settle relatively quickly. Others take much longer. For me, it took at least a year before I truly started to feel settled. Even now, a few years later, I still have moments where I wonder, "Was this the right decision? Do I really like it here? Would we be happier somewhere else?"

Perhaps try to keep elements of your old routine (where possible) so that not everything has to change at once. You can still go to the gym before work, it’s just a different one.

Stay connected to those back home who support and love you.

Say yes to opportunities of making new connections, especially when it feels scary to be the newbie.

Please don't wait until you're completely overwhelmed before seeking mental health support.

You Don't Have to Figure It Out Alone

You don't need to be in full-on crisis mode to benefit from talking things through. Sometimes, taking a breath, reflecting on your experiences and untangling them is all you need to navigate this bump in the road.

This is one of the many reasons I offer accessible, English-speaking mental health coaching for people who may be finding life abroad more difficult than they imagined.

Although I am based in Switzerland, I am thrilled to work with English-speaking clients locally and online, supporting people through life transitions, anxiety, stress, loneliness, and the emotional challenges that can come with starting over.

If any of this resonates with you, know that you're not “failing”, and you're certainly not alone.

Sometimes the strongest thing we can do is stop pretending we're coping with everything. Instead we can say "I am finding this harder than I thought I would."

And that's okay.

Let's talk it out...