Homesickness

[2] Sufferers typically report a combination of depressive and anxious symptoms, withdrawn behavior and difficulty focusing on topics unrelated to home.

[6] In its mild form, homesickness prompts the development of coping skills and motivates healthy attachment behaviors, such as renewing contact with loved ones.

The Greek physician Hippocrates (c. 460 BC–377 BC) believed that homesickness—also called "heimveh" (from German "Heimweh") or a "nostalgic reaction"—was caused by a surfeit of black bile in the blood.

[11] In recent history, homesickness is first mentioned specifically with Swiss people being abroad in Europe ("Heimweh") for a longer period of time in a document dating back to 1651.

This phenomenon at that time was first only thought to affect Swiss people until this was revised, probably caused by big migration streams across Europe suggesting the same symptoms and thus homesickness found its way into general German medical literature in the 19th century.

First understood as a brain lesion, homesickness is now known to be a form of normative psychopathology that reflects the strength of a person's attachment to home, native culture and loved ones, as well as their ability to regulate their emotions and adjust to novelty.

Cross-cultural research, with populations as diverse as refugees and boarding school students, suggests considerable agreement on the definition of homesickness.

[13] Additional historical perspectives on homesickness and place attachment can be found in books by van Tilburg & Vingerhoets,[13] Matt,[14] and Williams.

Recent pathogenic models support the possibility that homesickness reflects both insecure attachment and a variety of emotional and cognitive vulnerabilities, such as little previous experience away from home and negative attitudes about the novel environment.

For example, a seafarers on board, the environmental stressors associated with a hospital, a military boot camp or a foreign country may exacerbate homesickness and complicate treatment.

Positive adjustment to separation from home is generally associated with the following factors:[citation needed] Many psychologists argue that research into the causes of homesickness is valuable for three reasons.

First, homesickness is experienced by millions of people who spend time away from home (see McCann, 1941, for an early review[20]) including children at boarding schools,[21] residential summer camps[17] and hospitals.

As an example of mixed and layered coping, one study[29] revealed the following method-goal combinations to be the most frequent and effective ways for boys and girls: Sometimes, people will engage in wishful thinking, attempt to arrange a shorter stay or (rarely) break rules or act violently in order to be sent home.