The International Student Blog

College is a time full of transitions, especially as an international student inside the US. A new campus, new friends, new living situation and maybe even a new language- all of the changes can be overwhelming and it’s expected that international students will go through culture-shock. However, college-aged students like you are at an age when mental health conditions start to become more evident and can be brought on by being in a stressful situation like studying abroad. Because of this, it’s important as an international student to know about the available counseling services on your campus- whether you are feeling sad and would like someone to talk to or think that there might be something more serious that you need to speak to a mental health professional about. A few common warning signs of mental illness include:

• Feeling helpless or hopeless
• Having mood swings where you are extremely happy one moment, and sad the next
• Feeling sad and lonely for a long period of time and the feeling doesn’t go away
• Having low energy, and little or no desire to engage with others
• Eating or sleeping too much or too little
• Smoking or drinking to excess, or using drugs
• Seeing or hearing things that don’t exist

Many of the counseling services on your campus will be free and your visit will remain confidential. If you need to find a counseling service, a good place to start is your student health center. They can direct you to any counseling services available, whether it’s through the student health center or as a standalone counseling office on campus. If there’s not a counseling service on campus then your health center will be able to recommend an off-campus counseling service.

If you’re not able to find counseling services that you feel comfortable with the following hotlines are toll-free and completely confidential:

• SAMSHA – (877)-726-4727
• National Suicide Prevention Lifeline – (800)-273-8255

You can also watch this video for more information on mental health awareness for international students.

This entry was posted on Friday, October 21st, 2016 at 10:45 am and is filed under International Student, Study in the USA. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Written by Bryanna Davis

Bryanna joined EIC in 2011 after returning to the United States from teaching English in China. Her interest in international education, sparked initially by her own study abroad experience in Wales, led her to the company. Bryanna is originally from Missouri and is a graduate from the University of Central Missouri.

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