How can new expat arrivals keep stress under control?

Accepting an overseas relocation to a top expat destination is cause for celebration, but internalising the inevitable stress can wreck the dream.

The failure of an overseas placement isn’t just a disaster for those closely involved, it’s also a failure of the system for not giving enough support in the early days of a reassignment. It’s no surprise that the most common reasons for expat stress are the internalising of family-related issues in order to concentrate on the new job in hand. According to various studies, expatriate professionals are the most likely to fall prey to depression and anxiety, thus risking their mental health.

One of the most obvious triggers for declining expat mental health is family-related and centres on the non-working partner’s feelings of loneliness and loss of identity caused by a lack of work. Should this not be brought into the open and dealt with sympathetically, the fall-out affects the working partner’s already high stress levels and can result in poor performance. The working partner needs to actively support the spouse’s adjustment to a new family-centred role, beginning with pre-trip planning on how to avoid internalising the issues involved.

The risk of expat mental health problems isn’t confined to those who bring their families with them on reassignment, as stress itself isn’t just confined to expats’ personal lives. Studies show stress levels in expatriates as being at least 2.5 times more likely than in the home country environment, with substance use disorder a real risk should the cause not be identified. One of the worst effects of an overseas assignment is being separated from extended family and close friends, and coping with a foreign language and other cultural issues makes matters still worse. In this day and age, stress caused by an imbalance in demands and the personal resources needed to deal with them is the major cause of failed assignments and shattered careers.