At first, the hardest part of moving out appears to be the drudgery of packing all your furniture and belongings and then transferring all of it to a new place, but this often isn’t the case these days. If you’re moving to Florida for example, logistics can be handled easily through long distance moving companies Tampa residents trust for their relocation needs.
Most people don’t realize until later that the emotional impact is what hits hardest about moving away. After developing a strong attachment to where they live, it can be a very painful experience to let go of the familiarity and comfort of a place that you’d known for so long.
Overwhelmed by the event, many may not know what to do with the fresh start, and they tend to fall into a mental state that’s commonly known as relocation depression. If you’re planning on moving soon, it’s best to understand what relocation depression is and some ways to cope.
Sometimes called post-move depression, relocation depression is in fact a form of depression, rather than a more typical bout of sadness or a change in mood in response to a certain event. Because moving is such a huge shift in one’s lifestyle, the emotional toll can be as drastic as depression when considering how much is going to be left behind.
After moving, you could be experiencing relocation depression if you find yourself with no motivation or energy to do anything, especially more important activities such as work and hygiene. Sleeping habits tend to be heavily disrupted as well, either by episodes of insomnia or extensive oversleeping.
You may also be eating too much or too little, and you may grow more irritable at even the smallest things in your new life. In more extreme cases, people with post-move depression can rely on vices like alcohol more often.
As you can see, the effects of relocation depression can be severe, from harmful habits to destructive behavior. To better handle these symptoms, it’s good to know some of the healthier ways to cope.
Instead of thinking about the move, you can look at the first few days like any other vacation. Before leaving home, you can research popular attractions in the new city so that you can have an itinerary to look forward to despite everything else.
Once you’ve arrived, you can spend the first several days or so as a tourist. While it might be difficult to have fun so soon, at least you could come off to a good start with a more pleasant impression of the city.
Leaving your old place doesn’t have to mean completely letting go of everything that you had there. Although you’re physically in a new space, you can bring back some of the old habits and routines from the past to help you reestablish a sense of home in your new place. You can even try to decorate parts of the place to resemble some of the rooms from your old house.
You also don’t have to forget all the people that you’ve known from your old neighborhood. It could be nice to regularly keep in touch with friends and family from there to help with feeling less lonely in such a foreign environment. Modern technology allows us to easily stay in contact with these people, no matter how far they are from where you’re currently living. Plus, it’s nice to feel missed and to share your feelings with familiar people in your life.
No matter how you put it, depression is still a serious issue for anyone’s mental health, and if moving has put you in such a condition, there’s nothing wrong with getting help. A simple start can be to try out mobile apps and online platforms made to help people cope with mental illness. Although these aren’t meant to treat symptoms completely, they do help with easing some of the emotional tensions inside.
More than that, it’s a good idea to look into local support groups who understand your situation and can lend you a hand. Aside from validating you, this can serve as a good start to building new relationships and integrating yourself into your new community.
As difficult as it may be, there’s no going around having to move on emotionally. This doesn’t mean having to rush into the change since it does take time and depends on the person. However, it’s often best to start taking small steps towards accepting the reality of a new situation.
One way can be to create a new routine that involves the new city. If there’s a restaurant that you particularly like in the area, you may decide to eat there once a week for the first few months. Perhaps you can take morning jogs at the neighborhood park, or you can play a favorite sport like basketball at a local court.
Lastly, you could start getting to know the community around you. Aside from your local support group, you can join in other activities and events held nearby, or at the very least, you can try to get to know your next-door neighbors a little better each day.
At the end of the day, moving is a difficult affair that goes beyond the stress of taking your things to another place. The process of fully moving on can take months, depending on how mentally prepared you are. That’s why it’s a good idea to know early on what you can do to help ease this process for yourself.
