How to deal with Moving Anxiety and Depression (11 easy tips)

In this guide, we will discuss how to deal with moving anxiety and depression felt by many individuals after a relocation. 

Moving from one place to another can feel like a lot, especially if it is a new country or an area you have never been to before.

Moving can invoke feelings of fear and stress inside us leaving us wondering about how the new place will be and if we will be able to adjust there.

In some cases we simply suffer anxiety when we are away from our homes and hence moving to a new home becomes an even greater challenge.

But using some easy techniques we can deal efficiently and effectively with moving anxiety and depression. 

How to deal with moving anxiety and depression

Here are some tips on how to deal with moving anxiety and depression:

• Prepare yourself mentally before moving
• Prepare different lists
• From your old place, recreate a space here
• Follow your old routine
• Continue with your hobbies here
• Familiarize yourself with your surroundings
• Learn about the culture of the new place
• Be open to meeting new people
• Join a local group
• Allow yourself time to grief
• Seek out help from others

Prepare yourself mentally before moving

One of the most important and first things we need to do before moving is to prepare ourselves mentally. We need to accept the fact that we are relocating to a new place and understand why it is important for us to do so. Preparing ourselves mentally for the fact that we need to adjust and the adjusting might not be smooth and happen within a day. Give yourself time to explore a new place, meet new people, and be open to new experiences. Before moving have a positive attitude about the place and the experiences you will have. No one knows the future but having a positive attitude while facing it will give you the chance of dealing with it better and in a healthier manner. 

Prepare different lists

Organize yourself and your thoughts by making a variety of different lists. One list can be for things you need to pack before leaving your place, like clothes, like your favourite hoodies, books, kitchenware, etc. One list of things you need to immediately do after you move into the new place, like setting up your stove, checking the house for bugs, and changing your address for your posts. You can have different lists to help you deal better with the moving anxiety and depression that comes with relocating. You won’t have to worry about forgetting anything cause you can just check your list to make sure it’s been done or not. You can have a more organized move out that will surely be less stressful for you. 

From your old place, recreate a space here

Try and recreate the space that you loved on the list in your old house in your new house. It does not have to be a replica but a place that gives you the same feeling as before. This way you will be able to carry a part of your old self with you and feel a similar level of comfort and security that you used to feel earlier. This would make moving anxiety and depression less and make you feel warm and welcomed. Nothing will indeed be the same, but just having a small space that is familiar and almost the same as the old one will give you the time you need to adjust and will make you more open to the new experience. 

Follow your old routine

Make sure that you quickly fall back into your old routine, this includes sleeping and waking up at the same time you used to before. Also having food and going out the day as you used to. This will help you adjust quickly and make the new place seem less foreign, which will surely help with dealing with your moving anxiety and depression. You need to ensure that while unpacking you do other things also rather than just unpack for a week. Unpacking can get quite overwhelming in the beginning. 

If you’re looking for snack options that can help manage anxiety, here are the Best Snacks for Anxiety, such a good dark chocolate.

Continue with your hobbies here

Find a way to engage yourself in the activities and hobbies you engaged in while you were at your old place. This will help you get adjusted to your new life and settle in faster. It will give you a sense that you haven’t changed and are still the same person you are when you left. Continuing with your old hobbies in the new place is a sure way to reduce moving anxiety and depression. Let yourself enjoy and be a part of things that you love doing no matter where you are staying. 

Familiarize yourself with your surroundings

Be a tourist and go for a walk around the city. Explore the city and notice the places you’d want to eat at, entertainment centers, shopping centers, and what the locals do to pass their time. Once you familiarise yourself with the city you feel less anxious and clueless about what the city has to offer. Don’t just sit at home unpacking, go on a tour of the city, preferably on foot S that you can take it all in. This will reduce moving anxiety and depression cause now you would know how the city is and what all it has to offer. 

Learn about the culture of the new place

While touring the new city try and understand how the people of the city behave and talk to each other. It is very important to understand the culture, especially the unspoken rules that are followed by everyone in the city to avoid embarrassment. You can google about the city’s culture too and once you are familiar with them your moving anxiety and depression will also reduce. Adjusting to the new city and making new connections will also be that much easier for you. 

Be open to meeting new people

To be able to feel like a part of the new city you need to be open to meeting new people and forming new connections. You do not have to leave contact with people in your old city but also make sure to form more here. Having a good support system is very important to help us deal with moving anxiety and depression and for building that said support system we need to move out and interact with other people. We can start by interacting with our neighbors, by talking to them or inviting them over for a housewarming party. Accept invitations if they wish to call you over and give yourself time to make new friends. 

Join a local group

In case you are not very happy with your neighborhood or do not feel a connection or have a common ground to talk on, join a local group that has the same interest as you. This could be a yoga group, a book club, or a group that just likes to paint and learn about different cultures. Based on your interests and hobbies, find a local group, and join it. This way you’ll be able to continue following your hobbies and also reduce moving anxiety and depression. This is a fun and ensured way of making friends too. 

If you’re open to trying yoga for anxiety and stress relief, check out these top Yoga DVDs.

Allow yourself time to grief

You have moved to a new city and that leads to a feeling of loss for the old place. It’s okay to feel sad and conflicted about leaving a place that provided security and comfort to you and moves to a new place that you don’t know anything about. It’s completely normal to have moving anxiety and depression as it is a big step for you. Acknowledge the feelings and emotions that you are feeling and don’t try to hide them. Only accepting these feelings will help you process them properly and deal with them effectively. 

Seek out help from others

In case you feel like your moving anxiety and depression and getting out of hand and you are no longer able to control them, they are interfering in your day to day activities and causing you pain and sadness, see out help from others. Sometimes moving from one place to another can be extremely overwhelming and make us feel lost. Seeking help from other people like friends and family can be quite helpful. In case you feel you need a little guidance and help from a mental health professional, don’t be shy and go ahead in asking for help. There is nothing bad in trying to make yourself happy and putting your anxious mind to rest. 

In this guide, we discussed how to deal with moving anxiety and depression felt by many individuals after a relocation. 

FAQs: How to deal with moving anxiety and depression

References

https://www.ohanabehavioralhealth.com/five-ways-to-overcome-relocation-depression/

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