Fight Homesickness With A Dog
Homesickness is the pain or discomfort you feel when you lose someone or something you love. According to Freud, when this happens, you think that part of yourself has left with that person.
This emotion can become a major problem and even lead to depression. That’s why it’s a good idea to know how to control this and learn some strategies.
We’ve learned that when you lose someone, it’s best to look for something or someone to show all your love. However, there are other, easy ways to deal with this situation, instead of trading one loved one for another.
You can get a pet or spend regular time with a beloved animal. People often choose a dog, because these animals are loyal and sweet. It turns out that this theory has a basis in science.
A team of researchers from the University of British Colombia seems to have proven this in this study. For this study, students had to move for their lectures. They coped better with this change when they had a dog to accompany them when they felt homesick. The direct result of this was better academic performance.
The negative side effects of homesickness
Homesickness can make you look too much backwards, to the past where the person you miss is and the place you long for. As a result , things happening in the present seem dull compared to your idealized memories. Besides, the future seems like a confusing, distant place.
Somehow you still live “yesterday” and make today and tomorrow unimportant. And if your homesickness turns into a state of being instead of a place you visit from time to time, you can forget about your goals.
Nostalgia overtakes you at a certain age, keeping you away from certain benefits that life throws at you. It’s not that you throw these away, you just don’t see them anymore.
In addition, you don’t give your work or classes the attention they need, you don’t think about what you really want and you don’t experience this new experience with the passion you hoped for when you started it. That is why it is so important that more studies are done on this, especially for the young adults.
Animal therapy helps with the transition from high school to college
The researchers collected information from 44 universities. They selected first-year students who indicated that they were homesick and asked them to complete a questionnaire.
In this way the results of homesickness could be measured. They then chose a group of subjects for supportive animal therapy. The next group had to wait eight weeks for this.
The students who received the therapy interacted with a small group of dogs for 45 minutes each week to counteract their homesickness. After these eight weeks, the students were given the same questionnaire. This was then compared with the first questionnaire at the start of the study.
The results were astonishing: those in the first group reported much less homesickness and better mood. In the students who did not receive this therapy, this had actually deteriorated. The individual stories of these students were positively influenced, but this may also make a difference in your story.
