The four phases of culture shock – Elyssa Preston

What is culture shock?

Culture shock refers to the challenges of adapting to a new, foreign culture. Many people struggle to adjust to life abroad and begin to experience culture shock. While you may have been excited and felt prepared to handle life abroad, it is very easy to get caught off guard by its reality. The diversity of food, clothing, transport, and language, can make us feel totally alien in another country.

While the novelty of the place can be intriguing, from another point of view they create tension. We can then speak of cultural stress. Continuously focus on solving the problems of daily activities, such as finding an apartment, using a foreign ATM, dealing with different customs or even a trivial search for a product, leads to the exhaustion of our mental energies.

What are the phases of culture shock?

According to leading repat coach Elyssa Preston, there are four recognized phases of culture shock. These include:

● Honeymoon Phase: At first, the person idealizes the new culture and devalues their own. The individual experiences a kind of "falling in love" with the new country, its sights, foods, smells and social norms.

● Crisis Phase: Here the idealization begins to fade and the person begins to experience disappointment, frustration, anger and sometimes, anti-social tendencies. In this phase, the stress and challenges of living in a foreign country are experienced in an exaggeratedly negative way.

● Adjustment Phase: In the third phase, the person gradually begins to accept their situation, become more aware of the new condition and begin to adapt to the new habits and customs of the host country;

● Adaptation Phase: The person feels integrated within the new context, accepts their habits and lifestyle and their identity is restructured as an integration of the two cultures to which they belong.

Get help with culture shock and reverse culture shock today

It is normal for a person traveling abroad or returning home after living abroad to feel stressed and depressed. Find help and support dealing with these negative emotions by contacting professional repat coach Elyssa Preston.