Guarding your mental health on overseas reassignment

Nowadays, employers and expats are more aware of the risks to mental health of becoming an expat professional in a strange land.

Looking back a decade or more, becoming a highly-paid expat professional in an exotic setting far from your homeland was considered a dream worth chasing. Nothing was ever mentioned about the stress caused by dumping yourself in a totally unfamiliar culture amongst a population speaking an unintelligible language! At the present time, the world is truly an expat’s oyster, and recruiters are beginning to take into account the possibility that not every reassignment will be successful due to stress and the resulting mental issues.

Practically speaking, moving house is seen as being as destructive as divorce for many people, a perception which normally refers to moving within the home country. Moving across continents and taking on a totally different work ethic, language and culture is incomparable as regards the average human’s stress levels, however adventurous he or she might be. Familiar support networks at home and at work are long gone, and the resulting mounting pressure and anxiety can easily lead to depression. The main risks to newly-arrived expats’ mental health are new challenges at work, a total change in social activities and the loss of close family and friends’ support networks. The language barrier also affects the majority of expats, including those who’ve struggled to learn the basics before they arrived and now find they’ve far more studying to do.

Points to look out for include whether your new employer has mental health provisions and is aware of the pressures on and vulnerabilities of newly-relocated employees. Familiar social activities in the home country acted as stress-busters for many professionals, with the inevitable changes in the new location causing loneliness and isolation. Creating new networks whilst struggling with a language barrier isn’t fun, and can lead to a total lack of confidence in even the most talented expats. Another major adjustment for single expats is the local dating scene, guaranteed to be different from that in the home country. Preparing for these challenges is best done by researching the culture of your new country online, as you’ll be aware of what to expect and will be far less likely to develop depression or other mental problems as a result.