UCLA Study Abroad | International Education Office | Scotland

By Caitlyn Pickard

Throughout my college career, I struggled with depression. Additional stress as a student is only natural. With the sleepless nights and exam prompted anxiety, mental illness is quite prevalent amongst college students. Studying abroad does not help with these triggers. Honestly, it adds onto it. The new environment and lack of familiarity can sometimes seem overwhelming. When I am abroad for long periods, I have heightened emotions and feel even more alone on foreign soil. Language barriers may stop you from having deeper connections. Cultural customs may make you feel more like an outsider. Although there is no cure for mental illness, there are some tricks that can anchor you down to reality and can distract you from those feelings. One thing to note is that I have been handling my mental illness without additional therapy or medication for approximately two years now. Therefore, I have been regulating my mental illness pretty solo. If you think that study abroad may be a negative impact on your mental health, talk to your therapist or a close companion about whether or not studying abroad will be good for you. There are always opportunities to travel, but it shouldn’t put your mental health at risk. Know your limits and always take care of yourself.

Now, with all that background, I wanted to share a couple of things that helped me during my time abroad. Granted, many of these things are personalized, but I hope that maybe it will give you the opportunity to think of things that may work best for you or may not.

Journaling

Something I recently picked up was journaling. In my personal opinion, my journal sucks. It doesn’t have profound thought processes or anything truly of significance; however, it is nice to have that comfort of being able to pour out everything I may have been feeling on that day. It’s also helpful to look back on days that may have been just-a-day-in-a-life, where things might have been mediocre but things were okay. It’s important to remind yourself that things will be okay. Things may just be temporary and you won’t feel this way forever. Now, this is something that works for me. Feel free to adapt for what works for you. Maybe that’s art or writing music. Just finding a way to express yourself can help at times.

Yoga

While I was in Edinburgh, I picked up doing yoga. I’m used to working hard, being out of breath, and sweat dripping into my eye whenever I do workouts. As an individual, I’m also a very impatient person (sorry to my friends and family that know this and have to deal with it constantly! Love you!). So needless to say, yoga was very difficult for me. I started following Yoga with Adrienne on YouTube. She had a few 30 day yoga challenges that I decided to follow. I didn’t follow them very well, but I did begin to develop a routine. I began to do a short yoga video about 3 times a week. It was a refreshing feeling either waking up to greet the morning (or afternoon depending…) or to meditate with Adrienne and her quirky sweet presence. I began to feel more centered and in touch with myself. It was a nice and peaceful feeling.

Visit a beautiful place

Or even just a place that gives you a positive feeling. My happy places are at the ocean with the sun on my skin. Although sun in Scotland is rare, it does happen and it’s glorious. There’s also Dr. Neil’s Garden which is only a 30 min walk from Cameron Toll (see my post on Free Things To Do in Edinburgh for more info). Maybe for you going to a more busy place gives you feelings of comfort, such as a popular restaurant or the lounge in your dorm. Or maybe you like people being around, but not really loud. Try out the movies or the university library. Once you find these places, keep a mental note on where you feel most at ease so you can visit it during those moments.

Distraction is key

Sometimes you just need something to occupy your thoughts so you don’t dwell on the negative. It doesn’t need to be anything big. Something I do is take a shower or just eat ice. By having a physical sensation change, it can distract you from what is overwhelming you at the moment. Now, I’m not advising this as a procrastination method, but Netflix or Amazon Prime can also help. Watching any shows or movies can preoccupy your thoughts. For example, I watch stupid teenage dramas and get really into them, like “omg I can’t believe Matty McKibben is STILL into Jenna even though she’s a total jerk”. I will neither admit nor deny that those are things I’ve said verbatim, but you get the jest. You begin to get wrapped up in their drama that, for a small moment, you forget what you were thinking about. If you can’t afford Amazon Prime or Netflix, don’t worry! With your email address from your university abroad, you’re eligible for a free 6-month Prime trial. Just make sure you use your new country’s Amazon website (i.e. amazon.co.uk).

Reach out

My final piece of advice is to call friends or family. You don’t necessarily have to tell them what’s going on in your mind, but just having some familiarity can really help. I hope these techniques help or facilitate some brainstorming of things that could help you in the future. If not, well then welcome to a bit of insight on my mental illness. Having a mental illness is difficult and can be even more difficult when abroad. Just remember, you aren’t alone. Always remember to take care of yourself and take some time to treat yourself. I’ve treated myself a lot during this break. My bank account can confirm. But that’s okay. Because what’s more important than my debt is my healthy mental state.