Understanding And Managing Relocation Depression: Why A Big Move Can Get You Down

Moving to a new home or location is often seen as positive. However, this life transition can cause depression for some people rather than invigoration or excitement. You're not alone if you’re having difficulty with persistent negative thoughts and emotions after a move. This phenomenon is often called relocation depression, and it can be an understandable response to the stress of a significant life change.

Relocation depression is not a formal clinical diagnosis, but experiencing mental health challenges after moving could constitute a form of adjustment disorder or situational depression. Adopting healthy self-care habits, creating or adapting familiar routines, and finding comforting features of your new location may decrease stress by helping you feel at home. Psychotherapy may also help you stay grounded and provide helpful coping strategies. Your symptoms may resolve as you become more accustomed to your new surroundings.

What is relocation depression?

Since relocation depression is not an official diagnostic category in the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), there’s no formal definition. Instead, it’s a colloquial term often used to describe the experience of being severely depressed after transitioning to a new place. 

These feelings may not be an uncommon experience. Psychological research has repeatedly found that major life changes can provoke significant stress and may increase the risk of depression. Depression may occur even after positive transitions, such as a marriage, a promotion, or a planned move to a desired location. 

Relocation depression can involve the same symptoms typically seen in clinical depression, including:

• Persistent feelings of sadness, hopelessness, emptiness, or numbness
• Lack of interest in and enjoyment of activities that used to bring happiness
• Decreased motivation for socializing
• Irritability
• Challenges with attention and concentration
• Sleeping too much or too little
• Having thoughts that one is worthless, helpless, or guilty
• Unexplained physical symptoms such as aches and pains
• Substantial increases or decreases in appetite or weight
• Slowed speech and movement or frequent purposeless actions such as pacing or fidgeting
• Suicidal thoughts or actions

What causes depression after a move?

You may be puzzled to find yourself depressed after moving, especially if the move is a change you planned for and have been anticipating for some time. Because moving is often taken for granted as part of modern life, it can be easy to forget what a significant upheaval it can be. 

Relocating to a new place often means leaving familiar surroundings and daily routines while saying goodbye to friends, neighbors, and family members. You may have a variety of moving-related tasks to accomplish, which can add to your stress, and it may take time to find acquaintances and friends near your new home. Depending on why you moved, you may need to find a new job, and there’s often new information to absorb about the place where you now live.

While these stressors may seem minor individually, they can have a cumulative effect that challenges a person’s mental health. Day-to-day stressors may also be more challenging to cope with when one is in an unfamiliar environment since limited knowledge of one's surroundings can decrease one's sense of self-efficacy.

You may also have fewer sources of everyday happiness to offset your strength. A 2014 study examining differences in happiness between people who moved and those who stayed in place found that individuals who relocated often participated in fewer emotionally enriching activities such as socializing, active hobbies, and non-work-related interactions.

Risk factors for relocation depression

People of all demographic groups may experience relocation depression. However, this type of adjustment disorder may be more likely in people who already have an underlying mental health vulnerability due to past experiences or those who are attempting to cope with other sources of stress as well. 

Being in college 

For example, adjustment disorders are common among college students, who may be experiencing the first significant relocation of their adult life while also trying to adapt to a new academic routine. If you’ve never spent this much time away from lifelong friendships and the familiar surroundings of your hometown, you might become overwhelmed. 

Studies suggest that depressive symptoms tend to be more severe in students with prior stressful life events, experiences of childhood abuse, and tendencies toward neuroticism and ruminating on adverse events.

Experiencing disruptive life events 

Negative emotional symptoms such as depression may also be more likely to occur following moves in response to disruptive life events, such as job loss, divorce, or natural disasters. This type of relocation may be less voluntary and allow less time for planning and adjustment. 

Moving to unfamiliar surroundings 

Moving may also be more mentally difficult when one’s new location is highly unfamiliar. Families forced to migrate to new countries or regions due to traumatic situations such as war or persecution can be at high risk of mental health symptoms due to a lack of linguistic and cultural familiarity and the absence of pre-existing emotional support systems.

How to cope with or prevent relocation depression

If you’ve recently moved or are preparing to move, the following strategies might help you limit relocation stress's potential mental health impact.

Look for positive aspects

Research suggests that paying more attention to negative factors and dwelling on negative events can increase the likelihood of depression after stressful life events. Although it may not be easy, looking for and reflecting on what you like about your new environment may decrease stress regarding moving and protect against depression. 

Give yourself time to grieve your old home

You may believe you have no reason to be depressed, telling yourself that your new situation isn’t that bad or that other people have much worse problems. However, this attitude can make your depressive symptoms worse by contributing to feelings of guilt and shame on top of your other negative emotions. A better approach may be to acknowledge and honor your feelings of grief over what you’ll miss from your old environment. 

Explore your new location

Unfamiliarity might make you want to hole up in your home, but getting outside could be a more effective way to manage relocation depression. Spending time outdoors and engaging in moderate physical activity like walking around the neighborhood can have positive effects on mental health, and getting to know your surroundings may help you become relaxed and confident. You may try strolling around your neighborhood as soon as you move in.

Cultivate familiarity

Creating a sense of comfort and attachment after a move doesn’t have to happen immediately. You can start by finding a few places nearby where you enjoy spending time, such as a neighborhood park, a local coffee shop, or a public library. If you habitually visit them, places like these can serve as a “home base” that offers a sense of familiarity in your new area.

Participate in group activities

Social connectedness may play a significant role in protecting against depressive symptoms. If you’ve moved to a new area where you don’t know many people, seeking out group activities such as hobby meetups, casual sporting leagues, and other forms of clubs and associations may help you build your social network. College students experiencing depressive feelings may find on-campus activities to join. Your fellow participants may act as support groups for your mental health.

Getting professional help for relocation depression

In addition to self-directed coping strategies, you might benefit from talking with a mental health professional about the depressed feelings you’re experiencing. Clinical research indicates that talk therapy is among the most effective ways to treat depression. While there have been few studies specifically examining how to treat relocation depression, some trials have found that psychotherapies like cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) can produce significant reductions in symptoms of adjustment disorders. 

CBT therapists help clients reframe negative thought patterns and develop coping skills to improve their mental health. Family therapy might also be a helpful option if you’re concerned that your depressive symptoms might be negatively affecting your loved ones or if they’re also showing signs of psychological difficulties. 

Attending therapy sessions regularly while juggling your other post-move tasks might sound difficult. Online mental health care or mental telemedicine through a platform like BetterHelp might be a more manageable option. The lack of a commute and the flexible scheduling options available often make it easier to make time for Internet therapy. In addition, individuals can access online support groups weekly. 

Research findings indicate that online psychotherapy can often be at least as effective as traditional in-person care. One study comparing face-to-face and virtual reality cognitive-behavioral therapy for adjustment disorder treatment reported more significant symptom reductions for clients receiving online treatment. Speaking with a therapist over the internet can provide a helpful source of support as you navigate this life change.