Studying Abroad in the Netherlands: Homesickness, Adjustment and Mental Health

A student may understand the subject but still be unsure what participation, independent study or asking for help is supposed to look like. Nuffic’s review describes adaptation to unfamiliar educational expectations alongside language and social demands. It includes international and refugee-background students and distinguishes the groups where their experiences differ. 1

For your own course, make the uncertainty concrete. Is the problem the content, the assessment criteria, the pace of discussion, or knowing whom to ask? This is an educational question before it is a judgment about ability. A precise question also gives an adviser or lecturer something clearer to respond to than “I am bad at studying here.”

The Dutch Trimbos factsheet notes that international students can be farther from their familiar social environment while adapting to another culture. It discusses both risk and protective factors rather than describing international study as uniformly negative. 3

If homesickness is the word that fits, try completing the sentence: “What I miss most is…” Your answer could be a person, language, routine, familiar role or sense of ease. The next question is whether you want contact with something from home, an equivalent in the Netherlands, or simply room to describe a loss. These are options for reflection, not a requirement to replace people or stop missing them.

Seeing other people socialise does not tell you what their relationships feel like. Before deciding that everyone else has adjusted, ask which kinds of contact you actually want: study companionship, shared interests, cultural familiarity or friendship outside the university. Those are different wishes.

Trimbos’s factsheet places mental health within the broader international-student experience and includes support and recommendations for institutions. 3 That context matters: creating a welcoming environment is not solely a student’s personal responsibility. You are allowed to ask whether an activity is accessible to you in language, cost, timing and format rather than assuming that every available event meets every need.

A 2024 systematic review included 29 studies, with 26 entering the meta-analysis. It found associations between acculturative stress and psychological outcomes among international students, including depression. 2 Acculturative stress refers to pressures associated with adapting across cultural contexts; it is not a label for every unpleasant experience abroad.

The studies differ in setting, samples and measurement. Their average relationships do not establish that culture change caused an individual’s symptoms, or that an international student must be distressed. Use this evidence to broaden the questions asked, while keeping personal history, present circumstances and strengths in view. The purpose is recognition with accuracy, rather than replacing one oversimplified explanation with another.

A useful starting note could have four headings: course expectations, people and belonging, practical circumstances, and emotional experience. Under each, write one question you would like answered. A housing question should not disappear inside a conversation only about mindset; an emotional difficulty should not have to wait until every practical task is finished.

Nuffic’s review specifically includes housing and financial conditions as well as barriers to support. 1 Ask your institution what academic advice, student well-being information and practical guidance it currently provides; arrangements differ. If you explore therapy, you can also ask about language, approach and how the experience of international study would be understood.