Your mental health care is more important than ever when you move to a new country. Many of us are (or have been) newbies and have therefore experienced how moving to another country involves a lot of feelings and challenges, affecting our mental health. It shouldn’t be surprising then that by undergoing such dramatic transformation in our life we experience something like the five stages of grief. It might seem dramatic and exaggerated, but if you reflect on it, moving to another country does involve loss and a major life change.
If we know that we will or are experiencing a tough phase in our life, the best is to be prepared for it. So here comes an article for you.
The different stages of grief
The five stages of grief are denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. As a newbie, you will experience these or similar ones in some way (some studies point to 4 stages instead, calling them differently). We often connect grief with the loss of someone, but it is also possible to grieve for something, an object, your home, near contact with your family and friends, and even an old lifestyle.
These stages are not necessarily experienced in the order they are often written. Also, how much and how intense you will experience each, varies from person to person. Certain people won’t even go through all of them. Each of us experiences them at different times, in a different order, and with various intensities. We might swing between them as well, back and forth, or feel all five in the same day, to feel completely different the day after.
These are all normal feelings. That’s the most important message here.
Look, I’m normal!
Step one is to understand that these feelings are normal, and that you are not the only one having them. You do not have to go through the process alone either. There are a lot of ways to get support, whether you prefer to talk to someone in person or to join an online community. We all handle our feelings differently. Some of us are born with the tools to do it, others have learned them, and others still need to do it. Not coping with our feelings often leads to great mental discomfort and sometimes even harming patterns and choices. And even if you feel like you are managing OK and can cope with day-to-day life, you may still want to get some support as a way of helping you process your feelings. That is also OK.
Children are no exception and can also experience expat grief. You find an article about it here.
What is mental illness?
Mental illness can be anything from temporary feelings of worry or sleep problems to more severe difficulties such as anxiety or depression. What characterises mental illness is that it affects the well-being and how one functions in everyday life.
There are many factors influencing mental illness, such as genetics, environment, social relations, and substance abuse. Life-changing situations, such as moving to another country or having a child, also have a big impact on our mental health. Suddenly, our life turns upside down and we must deal with all the feelings that come with it. Feelings that if not handled properly can lead to more severe symptoms.
The symptoms of mental illness
You see and hear things that no one else does, you have strong feelings of sadness, worry, lonliness, have difficulty sleeping or feel unwell for a long period of time. Most of us have some or all of these feelings at some point in our life. The important issue here is how long and how intense these periods are. We can often handle difficult mental periods during a short while but once they start affecting your daily life, it is time to seek help.
If you are struggling being a newbie, seek help. It is not strange to seek help and you are not the only newbie to have strong emotions and difficulty adjusting to a new life.
The Swedish health care has a lot of information available online. You can read some general information in English here. Read specifically about anxiety and about depression (both in Swedish).
First step to mental health care in Sweden
If you are having a hard time and you think you are suffering from depression, anxiety, or stress, start by going to your local healthcare center or “Vårdcentral”. A doctor will see you and if needed prescribe some therapy sessions. The number of sessions depends on the severity of the case. Often patients start with only a few sessions, which later get extended to more according to the patient’s needs. Going via your Vårdcentral has a clear advantage: you will be covered by the High Cost protection program or Högskostnadsskydd. That means you pay a maximum of 1400 SEK per 12 months.
Online help for mental health issues in Sweden
Another option is to get in touch with online doctors through health apps, such as Kry.se or MinDoktor.se. These offer online psychologists and are often quicker to reach. The user usually starts by answering some questions via chat or an online form. After that, the user gets advice on how to proceed, how long treatment could take, and its costs. The choice will always be yours, to accept the treatment or not. By using these apps it is possible to have multiple online video sessions and sometimes you can even choose a therapist if you want to keep the same for all sessions.
Additionally, there are other apps specifically focused on mental health, such as Mindler.se or Din psykolog.se.
These services are usually cheaper, but the time slots vary a lot and might also be shorter (some only 10 or 25 minutes).
Mental health care in Sweden via your employer
If one of the roots of your problem is work, whether it is due to a specific stressful experience you went through or due to a too large workload, many employers offer a few therapy sessions to their employees (often 3 per year). This is a good way to start, as you don’t have to worry about the costs or the process – your employer takes care of those details for you. Be aware that in such cases, the therapist usually reports back to the employer. However, this is done professionally and the confidentiality between therapist and patient is still maintained.
Find your own therapist in Sweden
One final option is to just search directly for a therapist and book an appointment. This might be a more costly option, but it might also give you longer and more fruitful sessions. This is also a great option if all you want is to learn more about yourself. Perhaps you don’t have any symptoms, you don’t feel stressed or anxious. You simply want to learn more about yourself and how your mind functions.
Find the type of therapy that fits you
There are different branches of therapy and if you are going to choose one on your own it is important to understand the difference between them. These are the most common:
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT or KBT in Swedish) – it involves you actively working on your thoughts, feelings and behaviors that make your life not work the way you want. You choose this one when you want to change a particular behavior (for instance, an addiction), habit or the way you feel in a certain situation.
Psychodynamic therapy (PDT) – it helps you explore your past and how it relates with your current life. A very interesting form of therapy if you are looking into learning more about yourself.
Group therapy – the sessions are in a group together with other participants with similar experiences or problems. The groups are usually small, up to 8 people, so that everyone can both share and listen to others.
Search tips
Once you know what you want you can simply do a search on the internet by the therapy type and your city. For instance, try “KBT + Växjö” or “PDT+Uppsala+English”
How to prevent mental illness
A talk with a friend or a walk in the forest is the best therapy. You might have heard this many times and although not true, there’s still some sense to it.
If you are already suffering from anxiety, stress, or other psychological problems, it might be too late for the friend’s talk. As much as friends want to help us, sometimes we do need to see a therapist to get better. If you broke a leg, you wouldn’t ask your friend to fix it for you, would you? Unless your friend is a doctor or can take you to one.
However, it has been shown that good social relations and time in nature are great ways to boost our mental health. Sometimes small problems become big in our heads if we give them too much attention. Talking with a friend or someone in a similar situation might put your problem into perspective and help you process your feelings.
Studies have also shown that time in nature can help decrease anxiety levels, stress and feelings of anger. Exercise can also help, but it is more effective if performed outdoors. Among others, there was a Danish study involving 900 000 participants that saw a clear relation between regular access to green spaces, with lower levels of depression, improved concentration and attention in children.
Isn’t this great news? We live in Sweden, a country where there’s always a green area around the corner, no matter where you live. Spending some time every day with the big Mother Nature will help you unwind from the worries of life. As a friend of mine says: get out there and get some vitamin N.
Unsure of how to get some vitamin N? Here are some suggestions
- Walk in the forest, run on the trails or have a picnic with a nice view.
- Hug a tree, read a book in the park, dip your feet in a lake.
- Go for a hike with a friend and finish with fika in a cosy cafe (my favourite!)
- Busy day? Feel the grass with your bare feet for 5 minutes. That’s all it takes sometimes.
- Winter and dark? Good rain clothes keep you dry and warm, and a headlamp illuminates the way. There are also plenty of forests paths with light in Sweden (elljusspår).
- Alone and looking for company? Join a trail running group. There’s plenty of them a bit everywhere. Look for instance in Trailrunning Sweden or Team Nordic Trail.
Most importantly, take care of yourself, physically and mentally. And do get help if you need!
Ask for advice about your mental health in Sweden
- Call 1177 for help on what to do.
- Call 0046 771-11 77 00 if your phone does not have a Swedish subscription or SIM card, or if you are calling from another country.
- Your call will be answered by a nurse. You can speak Swedish or English. Help is sometimes available in other languages.
- If you are feeling very ill or have thoughts of not wanting to live, call 112 or go straight to an emergency department.
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