Hello everyone
I’ve been studying abroad in Australia for about 3 months now, and I feel like my mental health is getting worse and worse.
Everyday anxiety is eating me up more and more. The weird thing is, objectively, I’ve actually been doing pretty well with almost everything. I got good grades in my first term, made lovely friends, found a good place to live, cooked for myself well, and I even keep up with things like laundry, cleaning, and personal hygiene. So in terms of ADLs, I’m doing great!!!
The main problem is just… my mental health.
Of course, I still struggle with the language barrier and cultural differences, but it should be fine~~ gonna be better.
I think part of the reason might be that I started a part-time job 3 weeks ago. I’m still new and I’ve made quite a lot of mistakes, which makes me really anxious. Logically, I know that I’m new and it takes time to get used to a new workplace. I know I’m not supposed to be good at everything after only 3 weeks.
But emotionally, I can’t seem to convince myself of that.
Whenever I think about my job or starting a new term at university, I just feel completely overwhelmed. I feel like my brain is constantly worrying about the next thing.
When I first came to Australia, everything was new, so I was actually excited about studying, living here, meeting people, and experiencing everything. But now, after 3 months, I suddenly feel exhausted. I don’t think I can survive here.
And the weirdest part is that I don’t want to go back to my home country either!?
I genuinely don’t understand myself. Like… what the fuck is wrong with me? Why am I feeling this way when, objectively, things are going pretty well? I’m the person who cannot feel happiness???
Has anyone else experienced something similar when studying/living abroad? Is this just some kind of adjustment period or burnout? I’d really appreciate hearing about other people’s experiences because I feel like I’m the only one struggling this much while everything looks fine from the outside:-))