How To Manage Depression During A Move?
Feb 19, 2021
Moving is a significant life event that severely impacts your physical, mental, and emotional health irrespective of whether it’s a short distance or a long-distance move. Once the first wave of excitement and happiness passes, it is common to start feeling anxious and sad about leaving a familiar environment.
People planning a move often experience ‘Relocation Depression’ during which they can feel helpless, lonely, irritable, confused, uninterested, etc. It can happen to anyone, which is why if you are experiencing bouts of depression, don’t worry.
Here are some tips by professionals to help you manage depression during your move. Besides taking care of moving-related tasks, such as
changing address, booking removalists in Perth, packing, etc., you need to focus on your mental well-being.
Normalise Not Feeling Okay
Often people going through a tough time during and after a move suppress the need to share their feelings or address they are not okay. Moving can be traumatic and challenging, especially when you have lived in a home for years.
Therefore, it is normal to feel uprooted, uncomfortable, and sad leaving your home with memories. You should seek the support of near and dear ones to get through the relocation depression. In case you are missing work, feeling non-passionate about everything or having other severe symptoms, don’t hesitate to get help from a professional.
Delegate Tasks to Professionals
Relocation requires you to complete a host of tasks simultaneously causing you to sleep, rest and eat less. However, not getting proper nutrition, sleep, and relaxation can aggravate depression which is why it is essential to delegate work.
Hire professional removalists in Perth to
manage the packing and transportation of your belongings without any stress or hassle. By outsourcing these tasks, you can have more time to relax and spend time with family, which is good for your mental health.
Identify the Cause of Your Depression
Experiencing relocation depression can be due to a variety of reasons, and you need to identify them to assess your situation. Most common reasons for feeling depressed during a move include the following.
• Feeling lonely
• Inability to accept change which can happen when moving is mandatory but involuntary
• You are burdened by work, chore, and other commitments
• Moving to another state or country alone
• Lack of nutrition and sleep
• Limited contact with family or friends
• Having difficulty connecting with new neighbours, colleagues, schoolmates, and locals
Identifying your reasons for feeling sad and hopeless is the first step to getting better. You can discuss the reasons with a family member, friend, or a therapist to get things off your heart and find a solution.
Organise and Prepare for the Move
Being proactive is excellent for charting your steps and knowing what you have to do to manage the relocation. The more organised and prepared you are, the less hopeless or sad you may feel. Start by creating a moving checklist to outline everything you need to do. Also, set deadlines, ask friends/relatives for help, and hire
professional removalists in Perth.
If you are moving interstate or internationally, it helps to create an itinerary to visit places of interest, tourist destinations, and plan things to do. Remember a few bad days or weeks are not predictive of the coming months.
Conduct a Street Meet
When you move to a new locality, coming from another state or country can make you feel lonely and depressed with limited connection with people. Remedy this problem by conducting a street meet to increase your sense of belonging, greet neighbours, and find people to connect with. To hold a street meet event, get in touch with your city council and neighbours around you for permissions and invitations.
Maintain a Routine
Having a routine while planning your move and after you have settled at the new home is essential to keep you occupied and know what to expect from your day. Commonly people’s daily routines get upset due to moving-related tasks. For example, you can stay awake late in the night, which disrupts normal sleep pattern causing insufficient slumber and fatigue the next day.
Therefore, to avoid skipping meals, sleeping at odd times, and doing other things that disturb routine, set deadlines for tasks and don’t try to do everything alone. Make sure you stick to your normal routine during and after the move to keep stress, anxiety, sadness, and other negative feelings at bay.
Takeaway
Experiencing relocation depression is common, especially if you are moving to a new locality, state or country away from people you love. Understand you are not alone, and while preparing for your move, keep in mind it is okay to feel overwhelmed, sad and anxious. Follow the tips mentioned to
manage depression during a move. Don’t forget to take help from family members, friends, and professional removalists in Perth to assist with the move and make it easier to relocate.
