The Coronavirus has all of us dealing with a lot of difficult feelings right now.

Anxiety, acute stress, anger, frustration, loneliness, and isolation are common experiences around the world. But people living abroad face a uniquely tough mix of emotions.

Worrying about the safety of our friends and family from afar, closely monitoring infection numbers in both our current host country and our home nations, and not knowing when we can safely see our loved one in person, either back home or as visitors here, leaves many of us with a sense of helplessness.

Working or studying in a foreign country can be an amazing, life-changing experience, but it also impacts your mental health: the language barrier, different social norms and just feeling out of place can lead to a strong dose of homesickness, or even depression. For foreign students who are living in Groningen in 2020, social distancing measures mean there’s not much of a normal campus life to speak of.

Feelings of isolation, loneliness or depression are only natural given these difficult circumstances. Most of us here at City Central are internationals ourselves, and we know what’s it like to feel disconnected in a new place (now more than ever!).

If you could use a friend, or are just looking for a reason to get out of the house, we can help you find a Welcome Friend or you can go for one of our Welcome Walks to connect to your neighbourhood.

Here are some other local resources to reach out to for help:

RUG students: Student Service Center

All Ears Groningen

Hanze students: Student wellbeing during Coronavirus

International Welcome Center North: Mental Health for Internationals during the Covid-19 crisis

betterhelp: online counselling