For some, the transition to university life
takes longer than others and in this period
homesickness can emerge as a yearning for
the familiar environment, for what is safe and
secure. Most often it is focussed on the loss of
family and friends, but it is also about the loss
of places and routines. Those who experience
homesickness may find they feel depressed and/
or anxious, that they have obsessive thoughts
and minor physical ailments. This is different
from depression, itself, where sufferers feel
negatively about both university and home; in
homesickness home is usually seen in rosetinted
hues. Research on homesickness amongst
British university students shows that 35% of
new students experience some homesickness,
and that between 5% and 15% describe the
experience as frightening: a few will go on to
develop depression.
Some students start by being mildly depressed
and anxious several weeks before leaving
home. Others will be fine initially, and then
find themselves feeling homesick later in the
academic year, perhaps after the Christmas
break, or even at the start of their second
academic year. But commonly it is the first few
days or weeks after arriving at university which
are the most difficult.
Students are not immune just because they have
successfully experienced leaving home before.
Vulnerability to feeling homesick is affected by:
• distance from home
• a sense of anticlimax at finally arriving at
university after working towards it for so long
• whether or not the student feels responsible
for the decision to come to university
• unhappiness due to a clash between
expectations of university and reality
• “job strain” - i.e. work overload and low
control over it
• the extent of contrast in lifestyles
Those who are homesick often feel they have
no control over their environment, and that they
are not identified with it or committed to the
university or their place in it.