The Grief Involved In Emigration
More and more people are moving to other countries today. When some people do, they experience the grief involved in emigration. This is the pain of traveling from home, family and friends.
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to suddenly have to leave family and friends without knowing for how long? What would it be like to wake up in a country that is very different from yours, with different customs and lifestyles? What would it be like to feel that you have to learn a whole new language to express your feelings about all these changes?
These are some of the questions that people who are planning to emigrate ask themselves.
The grief involved in emigration also comes from a loss
When you lose something or someone, the brain begins to make emotional and cognitive adjustments. These adjustments are necessary for you to get used to your new reality.
That is what we mean when we say “grief”. This adjustment process has many common symptoms. For example, you may lose your appetite, start having anxiety or have trouble sleeping. You will also begin to experience negative emotions such as sadness and anger.
The grief of emigration does not always start right away. You have just left and you are so busy running errands and taking care of paperwork in your new home that you have not had much time to think about it. You focus your attention on the task you are going to adjust as best you can.
The grief of emigration tends to start a little while after you leave your country, when you start to focus more on how you feel. This is also why some people call it the 6-month syndrome (average length of the adjustment period). The people of Galicia, in northern Spain, have their own word for this nostalgia: morriña.
Several types of grief involved in emigration
Emigration involves several losses, which means several different types of grief. You lose your home, your loved ones and relationships, your job and perhaps worst of all, even your identity. Often people leave their countries due to poverty, war, persecution, etc. This can make the mourning process even more difficult.
So if you are thinking of moving to another country, have just moved to a new country, or know someone who is in a similar situation, keep reading. We will give you some tips on how to make the adjustment period as positive and productive as possible.
How to adapt positively?
Do not idealize your new country or your homeland
Building false expectations of the country you are coming to will probably only lead to disappointment at some point. It is best not to have expectations so that you can be more objective about the good and the bad. On the other hand, you should not idealize your return home and think that everything will be better than before.
Keep things in perspective
Remember that life is characterized by constant change. Emigration has existed since the beginning of humanity. Just because you move to another country now, does not mean you can not go home in the future. You can even move to another country later and experience more cultures.
We hope these tips will help you deal with the stress of moving and the process of adapting to another country. Avoiding this grief completely is not possible, but you can try to prevent the grief over emigration from having a major negative impact on you.
