Mental Health Challenges Among International Students

"Sometimes self care is exercise and eating right. Sometimes it’s spending time with loved ones or taking a nap. And sometimes it’s watching an entire season of TV in one weekend while you lounge around in your pajamas. Whatever soothes your soul." — Nanea Hoffman

One of the most underrated and least talked about subjects for students studying abroad is the rising mental health challenges among international students. At some point of time during their study in a far off foreign country, most if not all international students can become vulnerable to common symptoms of depression, anxiety, helplessness, and high levels of stress due to sociocultural differences, academic pressure, language and communication barriers, homesickness, instances of racial discrimination, fear of exclusion, and financial pressures. The change in environment, emotional and physiological changes are common stress factors. As an international student myself, I remember how when I was leaving my home, I had this unknown fear of leaving behind my friends and family, yet I was equally excited about flying to a new country with a completely different culture and was optimistic about my future.

Once, I was talking to a friend of mine who was studying in England pursuing her Master’s degree. She informed me how deteriorating mental health of international students was becoming a major topic of discussion for the British-Columbian Government. Surveys were conducted to find the leading causes of mental health challenges amongst international students — homesickness and communication barriers, rising level of racial discrimination, accademic pressure, fear of isolation, managing finances, etc. A report prepared by Campus Living Villages in the UK about Mental Health taking into account a sample of 153 international students found that 36% reported experiencing poor mental health (Kennedy 2018).

Each international student may face different obstacles, have different experiences, and may try to have a different approach to deal with it but it wouldn’t be wrong to say that all these challenges have a direct negative impact on the mental health of each one of them (though the degree of impact may vary) while limiting their scope of personal and professional growth.

I have observed 4 top challenges faced by international students, and how these obstacles contribute to mental or psychological health challenges.

1. Culture Shock

An anthropologist, Kalervo Oberg, first coined the term culture shock in 1954 to describe the anxiety felt by individuals living in a new culture (Oberg, 1960). Usually cultural shock is common among all international students and they will feel it at some point and to varying degrees.

Many international students face issues with adapting to a new culture (food, climate, style of dressing, social values etc) as they have to deal with cultural differences on a daily basis. Also, being surrounded by other students from a different part of your own native country may require you to learn something new about their traditions, language, or culture. Sometimes the interactions between students of vastly different cultures may result in conflict amongst them as the traditional practices and cultural rituals of one may be considered unbelievable or unusual by the other.

"Keep your language. Love its sounds, its modulation, its rhythm.
But try to march together with men of different languages,
remote from your own, who wish like you for a more just and human world." — Hélder Câmara

International students should be open minded and flexible in accepting and respecting new cultures and beliefs while following the ones of their own. From an individual perspective, be observant and have an unbiased approach in embracing these differences and enjoy the cultural diversity surrounding you. This will not only help you in building and maintaining new friendships but will also let you explore the once unfamiliar cultural knowledge.

2. Language and communication barriers

Language difficulty is one of the critical issues for international students. Talking with others in any setting can provoke anxiety, due to hurdles including understanding different accents; "keeping up with" the conversation; and understanding cultural references, slang, and jokes (Hamamura and Laird 2014; Kuo 2011)

Oftentimes, language and communication barriers are common among all international students. As an international student traveling to Russia, you should be well prepared to face language barriers both in your academic and social life until you gain a certain level of proficiency. Coming from different countries, there is a lack of interactions among students themselves as these students speak different languages, their accents and dialects differ, some students may feel intimidated or insecure by other students due to the former's lack of ability to express or communicate with others. Even your ordinary daily tasks such as traveling using public transport, communicating with locals, or opening a bank account can become a real life challenge. International students who struggle with communication, over a period of time may develop a feeling of loneliness and isolation which could eventually lead to mental health issues.

"Going to a country where you don't speak the language is like wading into the sea when you can't swim — it's intimidating at first, not impossible, and ultimately manageable." — Stewart Stafford

For international students, it's important to learn the language of the host country as it will not only allow you to communicate freely with others but will also minimize the fear of misunderstanding and miscommunication. Joining speaking clubs, participating in group discussions, and interacting with a diverse set of people (rather than interacting only with students from their own country) will help in overcoming language barriers while studying abroad. Whenever you think you don’t know how to say something, say it anyway. Maybe you need to rephrase your sentence or have to correct it grammatically before someone understands you completely. Remember that only practice makes one perfect.

3. Financial Insecurity

Many state funded and private universities provide financial support to international students in the form of scholarships, grants and stipends. However, international students who come from ordinary families and are not eligible for financial aid by their universities often have to experience stress and anxiety due to increasing cost of higher education, limited state funding and managing finances. Financial stress is one of the leading causes of anxiety among international students causing negative impact on student’s health and adding up to their rising mental health crisis (Shapiro and Burchell 2012 Measuring financial anxiety). Inability to pay semester fees, inadequate financial resources or high study loan rates are the most common forms of financial insecurity among students in general. In extreme instances, financial anxiety leads to poor academic performance and even mid-college dropouts (Terriquez and Gurantz 2015). Not only this, graduating students also experience this financial stress as companies may not treat them the same as domestic students when applying for job opportunities, tough selection criteria or additional paperwork requirements which further worsens the mental health of students.

One of the best ways to deal with financial stress is to learn the art of Budgeting and sticking to it. Avoiding unnecessary spending, managing your finances, using student discounts wherever possible, attending events and visiting places that are often free of cost for students (or are very reasonably priced) for entertainment purposes will not only allow you to be in a better financial place but will also let you enjoy without any guilt of overspending.

4. Family Relationships and Friends

International Students often struggle with maintaining a long distance relationship with their family members, friends, and partners who are living in other parts of the world. Being away from your friends and family in times when you need their advice and support further complicates things for international students and contributes to their mental stress by creating a feeling of loneliness, isolation, confusion and depression. Isolation from their families, poor relationship with other students, difficulty in networking with peers, and feelings of being treated like an outsider can make one question their decision of studying abroad.

"Being a family means you are a part of something very wonderful. It means you will love and be loved for the rest of your life." - Lisa Weed

It is very important for international students to stay connected with their family members and friends, and explore new friendships around them as there would be so many people around them who are in the exact same situation as them. Participate in extracurricular events, go to social gatherings, be a part of some student clubs at the university to reduce the stress level and deal with feelings of low self-confidence, sorrow and anxiety. Interacting with these groups will give you an opportunity to explore sociocultural differences and teach you how to adapt to these changes, you may be lucky enough to find new people with whom you can share your problems when you can’t take help from someone back at home and can build friendships that stay forever.

References

• Hamamura, T.; Laird P. G. (2014) "The Effect of Perfectionism and Acculturative Stress on Levels of Depression Experienced by East Asian International Students". Journal of Multicultural Coun-seling and Development 42, 4: 205−17.
• Kennedy, K. (2018). " Alliance Needed on Student Mental Health". The PIE News.
• Kuo, Y. H. (2011). "Language Challenges Faced By International Graduate Students in the United States". Journal of International Students 1, 2: 38−42.
• Oberg, K. (1960). "Culture shock: adjustment to new cultural environments". Practical Anthropology 7, 177−182.
• Shapiro, G.K.; Burchell, B.J. (2012). "Measuring financial anxiety". J. Neurosci. Psychol. Econ. 2012, 5, 92.
• Terriquez, V.; Gurantz, O. (2015). "Financial challenges in emerging adulthood and students' decisions to stop out of college". Emerg. Adulthood 2015, 3, 204−214.

This is yet another blog from the International Student Series. Thank you so much for reading! Feedback is always appreciated.