Culture Shock: An Overview
If you'd like to talk to someone about this subject, please contact MIT Medical's Mental Health Service at 617-253-2916.
The information below is provided by MIT Medical's Center for Health Promotion and Wellness, which offers members of the MIT community specialized health expertise, information, and educational programs.
“Culture shock” is the anxiety experienced when you move to a new country or environment. At first, the simplest tasks may be extremely difficult; it can seem impossible to figure out how to mail a letter or order a sandwich or whether to call your advisor by his first name or “Professor.” Struggling to communicate in a non-native language makes things even harder. You may feel homesick for all you’ve left behind: your social support system, your job, your home. In time, of course, your situation will normalize, but during the first few months in a new place, your emotions are heightened, and the challenges of adjusting to a new culture can seem overwhelming.
Stages of Culture Shock
Culture shock can be broken down into general stages that differ in length and intensity for everyone.
Pre-departure: Before you leave home, you are excited and overwhelmed by preparations for the move and with saying goodbye to friends and family.
Honeymoon stage: Once you arrive in your new environment, everything seems exciting and new, and your optimism is high as you keep yourself busy settling in, exploring your new surroundings, and meeting new people.
Maximum culture shock: Once you set up your routine and no longer feel like a visitor or tourist, you may begin to feel annoyed about cultural differences—the way people respond socially, the idioms they use, the foods they eat. You may feel homesick and think that everything is better back home. For some, these feelings come all at once, and for others, negative and positive periods alternate.
Acceptance and integration: Almost without being aware of it, you begin to feel good most of the time. You can laugh at your earlier mistakes and misunderstandings as you have developed a better understanding of your new culture and the ability to tolerate the differences. You’ve made friends, found social support, and realize you’ve begun to feel at home.
Reverse culture shock: This happens when you return home for a visit. Initially, you’re happy about going home and excited about seeing friends and family and being in a familiar environment again. But when you get there, you may experience culture shock all over again. You expect things to be the same as when you left, but you find that people and places may have changed in your absence. The new customs and habits you acquired while at MIT may not fit in with your home culture.
Symptoms of Culture Shock
Culture shock can manifest itself both emotionally and physically. Before you reach the acceptance-and-integration stage, you may find yourself:
- Homesick
- Bored, withdrawn, or irritable
- Angry at people in your new home, avoiding them, or seeing them all as the same
- Idealizing your home country or region
- Feeling inadequate or insecure
- Frustrated by your inability to communicate
- Very tired without reason or needing too much sleep
- Avoiding social contact or tasks by spending too much time reading or surfing the Internet
- Eating too much or not enough
- Drinking too much alcohol
- Unable to work well
- Crying without reason
- Suffering physical symptoms, like headaches and/or stomachaches
Taking Care of Yourself
Adapting to a new environment takes time. Remember that anxiety and homesickness are normal responses to change and that there are steps you can take to make your adjustment easier:
- Allow yourself to feel sad about things you have left behind: your family, your friends, your home.
- Understand the cultural roots of the things that annoy you. Pretend you are an anthropologist studying a foreign culture and ask yourself why people do what they do. Find a cultural informant—a local to whom you feel comfortable asking questions—to help you understand behaviors and situations.
- Maintain relationships with people from your country or region or others who speak your language. It is important to share your frustrations and confusion with others in the same situation as you, and getting to know them will keep you connected to your home culture and identity.
- If you are a non-English speaker, find opportunities to practice speaking English outside the lab or classroom. Take a class just for fun, join a group, such as a choir or sports team, or volunteer in the community, where you’ll have a chance to improve your English conversation skills.
- Reduce stress by exercising, meditating, and connecting with other people.
- Be patient. Before you realize it, you will feel at home.
How MIT Medical Can Help
MIT Medical offers a number of programs and resources to help you adjust to your new home.
spouses&partners@mit: This resource network for the wives, husbands, and significant others of MIT students, staff, and faculty helps newcomers from all over the world meet each other and create a fulfilling life here. The spouses&partners@mit Newcomers Guide is an invaluable introduction to the Boston/Cambridge area, listing information on a variety of important topics—everything from where to take English classes to supermarket locations to using local public transportation.
Language Conversation Exchange: This resource matches conversation partners with those who wish to practice a language with a native speaker.
International Student Guide: This guide provides answers to questions about adjusting to a new culture.
MIT Medical’s Mental Health Service: Members of the MIT community can seek psychological counseling at MIT Medical’s Mental Health Service to deal with issues including stress management, relationship difficulties, depression, personal problems, homesickness, and the challenges of adjusting to a new culture. To schedule an appointment, call 617-253-2916. You do not have to be in a crisis to make an appointment. MIT Medical also has walk-in hours Monday through Friday from 2 to 4 p.m. for urgent needs. Your visit to the Mental Health Service is confidential.
MIT Community Organizations & Student Groups: There are plenty of organizations and groups to get you involved and connected with others. With everything from ballroom dancing to computer graphics to social justice, there’s sure to be a group that will interest you.
Center for Health Promotion & Wellness: The Center offers wellness classes, an extensive Multimedia Library, and health educators who can speak with you about your health concerns.
Related links
Exercise & Fitness
Homesickness
Mindfulness/Meditation/Yoga
Stress Reduction
Mental Health America
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