Content warning: This article contains discussion of eating disorders and dieting, and mentions of suicidal ideation that some readers may find distressing.
Studying abroad, especially in college, is often portrayed as an amazing experience, one of the best times of your life and a journey that will fundamentally shape you as a person. Whether from colleges trying to entice people into their programs, news articles aiming to influence people to travel more or simply from friends and family, all of them tend to brush past the reality — studying abroad takes a toll on mental health.
I have seen it firsthand. During the year I lived in Germany, I spoke with friends in Smith’s study-abroad programs and with international students at Smith. Regardless of the location, the language proficiency or level of preparation, studying abroad in a foreign country places significant stress on students’ mental health and well-being that cannot be circumvented or ignored. The full scope of this reality is rarely shown to applicants.
Annika Hardy ’24, who completed the Smith’s year-long Hamburg program in 2022-23, reflected on the difference between expectation and reality when it comes to studying abroad..
“There’s so much pressure for it to be the best year of your life,” she explained. “But for me it wasn’t.”
With the numerous challenges international students face while studying in foreign countries, it’s remarkable that the “Perfect Study Abroad Trip” stereotype persists at all. Although traveling, meeting new people and trying new things can be rewarding, an even longer (and heavier) list of experiences — stress-inducing ones — also awaits.
In their research on how studying abroad affects mental health, published in the “Archive of Clinical Psychiatry,” Othman Ulukök and Derundere Ufuk — medical professors in Japan and Saudi Arabia, respectively — identified several unavoidable stressors for students abroad, including unfamiliar learning methods, language barriers, currency differences, homesickness and cultural adjustments. They noted that these challenges can lead to depression, anxiety, stress, fear, social isolation, poor academic performance and in severe cases, even suicidal ideation.
Last year, Smith Lecturer Falsetti-Yu offered a Digital Storytelling course specifically designed for students to process their experiences abroad and create something from them. There, I listened to my classmates speak candidly about struggles with mental health while abroad that I’d never been given the chance to hear before, and I was shocked by how common issues like the ones I dealt with were. Even outside of that class, all the students I spoke with had struggled significantly with their mental health while abroad.
For Katherine Metzger ’26, who studied in Italy through a non-Smith program, financing her experience abroad was extremely taxing. Metzger was denied Praxis funding due to being a first-year despite exceptions that could’ve allowed her to receive it.
“My mental health deteriorated [while abroad],” she explained. “Students in the university were largely from a different income bracket than me and I couldn’t join in their lifestyle.”
Due to her restricted funding, Metzger could also only afford to eat one to two meals daily during her time in Italy. These struggles didn’t end when Metzger returned home to the United States — she developed an ongoing fixation with her weight, a new issue stemming from her time abroad.
Such long-term effects aren’t as uncommon as one might think. Paavani Ojha ’26, an international student from India, felt so isolated from her loved ones that she decided to take a year of leave from Smith to focus on her mental health after her sophomore year.
I faced similar feelings of isolation and academic stress when I studied abroad in Germany at fifteen. Learning German proved incredibly challenging and affected my self-worth. I constantly felt stupid and embarrassed and I developed an extreme shyness that I’d never dealt with before. I could barely bring myself to speak to anyone, even in English.
It felt impossible, and again, embarrassing, that I was struggling so much when all of my family and friends in America would go on and on about how I’d have the greatest time of my life abroad. And don’t get me wrong — some of my experiences there were good. I made lifelong friends, eventually became more comfortable with German, and found a passion for traveling and learning about new cultures. But all of that was overshadowed by the looming presence of my mental health struggles while I was there.
Programs do make somewhat of an effort to address these pervasive issues for students studying abroad. Marielle Sauber ’26, who studied abroad for a summer in Spain with a University of Virginia program, shared that she “had a dedicated psychologist they referred students to if they were struggling or just wanted to talk during their time.”
During my time abroad in Germany with the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange, I also had access to virtual counseling services whenever needed. Smith programs, including the Smith in Hamburg program, employ directors and administrators to provide students with support for a wide range of struggles — mental, emotional, physical, financial, etc.
Yet despite the clear awareness of these programs that there is a persistent issue of mental health struggles while studying abroad, in my opinion, there is a lack of transparency about the depths and pervasiveness of these struggles with the students that take part.
The Office of International Study at Smith, for instance, hosted a seminar at the end of last year for all students going abroad, addressing homesickness and culture shock. But the issues go beyond that. Prospective study abroad students need to be completely aware of the full challenges they will face, beyond just homesickness and culture shock. Downplaying this reality benefits nobody and can even precipitate harm.
If providers were more open with students about these challenges, students would be better equipped to handle their mental health abroad and more comfortable discussing their struggles.
Going forward, it is both necessary and ethical to be transparent with prospective students — whether from providers or program alums — about the struggles they will almost indubitably face while abroad. Because that is the reality: studying abroad won’t be perfect. It may not be the greatest time of your life. You will be challenged. And, yes, there will be an impact on your mental health. The sooner you’re aware of that, the easier it will be to get out in front of it and make your study abroad experience into something truly beneficial for you.
