Have you been posted abroad by your organization or company? Or maybe you have decided to follow a dream or work for a cause outside your homeland?

Whether you’re living and working overseas by choice or by assignment, you will at times experience some form of stress from culture shock or adjustment to the new culture.

Cycles of stress can start with the process of packing and shipping household belongings as you begin to leave the familiar behind.

When arriving at your overseas destination you may experience stress when you find yourself surrounded by unfamiliar sights, sounds, smells, new ways of thinking, and new rules of the foreign land.

Culture

There will be stress to some degree when coping with a new culture: a new language which you may or may not be able to read, write, or even speak; new foods with unfamiliar flavors and textures or from unfamiliar food sources; new styles of relating, working, and playing; the relative welcome or exclusion of foreigners by the local residents; new and different social rules, laws and taboos.

Environment

The environment of the new country brings its own potential sources of stress caused by the possible differences from home: temperature; weather and climate; relative reliability of services such as electricity, water, telephone, internet connection, garbage pickup; relative safety of the new location; the degree of cleanliness of air, water, streets public sanitation. Also the degree of poverty or affluence of the local population, compared with foreign residents; the quality and availability of health care; the degree or lack of "the rule of law"; the degree of public order whether things work or not in the new location; differences in religion and religious practices; the volume, amount and types of sounds in the new locale–music, public announcements, automobiles, and animals; and the attitudes towards time in the new country can be sources of stress.

Signs of Stress

If you are already living overseas, you may be saying to yourself, "I’m doing all right. I’m handling life in this new place. I don’t have any culture shock."

This may be true, but keep in mind there is no signpost clearly showing, "THIS is culture shock." These stresses can build up over time and can have a range of negative emotional, physical, and mental effects.

Emotional Effects of Stress

Stress can reveal itself emotionally in increased mood swings; annoyance or irritability; feelings of anger or loss of temper; feeling of overwhelm, "too much is happening" or "I don’t know what to do first"; feeling of emotional flatness, a lack of enjoyment of things you used to enjoy; desire to be alone or feeling of resistance to going out in public or meeting new people. Also feelings of powerlessness, pointlessness, or irrelevance of your life or work overseas; loss of confidence; feelings of aloneness, loneliness, or isolation from friends and family; and of feeling left behind by life, circumstances, and events in your home country; feeling anxious or worrying about your future; feelings of frustration, often from trying to accomplish things you could easily do in your home country.

Page 1 of 4 :: First | Last :: Prev | 1 2 3 4 | Next