How do I survive culture shock?

TL;DR:
Culture shock is not just brief discomfort over strange foods or customs. It is a deeper psychological disorientation that comes from the continuing process of adapting to a new culture’s unfamiliar ways of living, thinking, and valuing. Symptoms may include homesickness, irritability, withdrawal, apathy, or psychosomatic symptoms. Anthropologists describe this process as a cycle of adjustment — honeymoon, frustration, adjustment, and acceptance — and note that it can recur in waves. The page also addresses reverse culture shock, the readjustment struggles that can occur upon returning home after an extended period of cross-cultural living.

Mission Briefing: Ideas That Affect World Mission Outreach Today

Cultural adjustment stages

People often think that discomfort arising from encounters with strange foods or customs constitutes "culture shock." In reality, those brief moments of discomfort are not what anthropologists mean by culture shock. Instead, anthropologists and psychologists use "culture shock" to label the confusion, doubt, and nervousness common to people who have recently begun living cross-culturally and who are also experiencing one or more of the following:

Real culture shock is therefore more deeply rooted than the momentary discomfort we feel when confronting unfamiliar foods or social norms. It is not the momentary surprise we describe by saying, "That really shocked me." Instead, it is more analogous to the serious condition medical professionals describe when they say that a traumatized body has gone "into shock."

What anthropologists call culture shock develops during an extended period of coping with unfamiliar ways of behaving, organizing life, perceiving reality, and assigning value. Indeed, because people experience culture shock symptoms over a period of time rather than in one isolated event, some anthropologists say "cycle of adjustment" rather than "culture shock."

Culture shock symptoms will be quite evident in some people and less so in others. Many people living cross-culturally experience some form of the adjustment cycle — honeymoon, frustration, adjustment, and acceptance — although its intensity and sequence vary. Despite its name, culture shock is not a single startling event. It is the cumulative psychological stress and disorientation that can accompany prolonged adaptation to an unfamiliar culture.

Culture shock symptoms may come and go over a period of time. Describing her experiences in Senegal, missionary Linda Louw said, "I thought culture shock was something that you got through, and it was done, but it just keeps coming."

The sense of unease and heightened irritability common in the frustration stage can be triggered by small things. The adjustment stage usually does not begin until a person has become familiar with and increasingly comfortable in the new culture.

Fortunately, the effects of culture shock can be reduced. Here are half a dozen coping suggestions:

  1. Realize what is happening to you and why.
  2. Remind yourself that this happens to many expatriates in varying degrees and that people regularly work through it.
  3. Refuse to succumb to the desire to withdraw from people. Choose instead to engage with those of your host culture.
  4. Get involved in a hobby that connects you in some way with the place where you serve.
  5. Be bold about reaching out to people in your host culture to build a support network of confidants. Ask people to help you improve your language skills and cultural understanding.
  6. Consciously increase your curiosity about the wildlife, geography, plant life, history, literature, foods, social norms, folktales, children's stories, proverbs, legends, and fables of the place where you serve.

Reflection Questions About Culture Shock

  1. How would you articulate the difference between people's brief discomfort when encountering strange foods or customs and what anthropologists mean by culture shock?
  2. What are some of the symptoms of culture shock that people may experience when living cross-culturally?
  3. What is the cycle of adjustment, and how does it relate to culture shock?
  4. What coping mechanisms can individuals use to help soften the effects of culture shock?
  5. Why might it be important for people experiencing culture shock to consciously increase their curiosity about the place where they serve?

This article on a critical issue in world missions outreach was one of the 20 articles published in the Mission Briefing series in Engage, a monthly online magazine.

Acrostic: Coping with Culture Shock

C — Connect with locals: Engage with people from the new culture to build understanding and gain support.
O — Open your mind: Stay open to new ideas, experiences, and ways of doing things.
P — Practice patience: Adjusting takes time, so be patient with yourself and others.
I — Invest in self-care: Take time for activities that help you relax and recharge.
N — Nurture your curiosity: Learn about the culture, traditions, and history to deepen your connection.
G — Give yourself grace: Acknowledge that culture shock is a normal part of adaptation and be kind to yourself during the process.

Like acrostics? Here are more of them.

Afterword

Understanding culture stress

Survival skills for missionaries, international students, and others navigating culture shock while bridging cultural differences

This animated diagram illustrates two paths people take during the four phases of long-term cross-cultural encounters. Kalvero Oberg coined the term "culture shock" in the 1950s. The term describes the psychological disorientation adults may experience while adapting to an unfamiliar cultural environment. This process of acculturation differs from enculturation, through which children learn their first culture. The cultural adjustment period usually includes some disorientation brought on by uncertainty about cultural boundaries.

The confusion and anxiety brought on by cultural stress or culture shock may cause us to think, do, or say things that are contrary to God's purpose.

Diagram comparing constructive and destructive responses during four stages of cultural adjustment

Diagram used by permission from Duane Elmer's Cross-Cultural Connections (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2002).

Symptoms of culture shock:

Stages most people go through in adjusting to a new culture

  1. Fun: The excitement and adventure of experiencing new people, things, and opportunities.
  2. Flight: Disorientation brings the urge to avoid everything and everyone that is different.
  3. Fight: The temptation to judge people and practices that are different as bad or foolish.
  4. Fit: Creative interaction with the new culture, including a willingness to understand and embrace appropriate aspects of it.

"One of the best defenses [against severe culture shock] is knowledge. . . . Know what you are likely to experience" — Diana N., Nazarene Bible College student

Five Ways to Survive Culture Shock

How can we cope with the disorientation of adjusting to a new culture? Having information about culture shock is an initial step. Attempting to distance ourselves from an ethnocentric worldview will help. Then, to cope successfully, let's make sure that our attitudes mirror those suggested in green rather than red in the top half of the diagram. As you work through cultural adaptation, follow these five steps for navigating situations in which verbal and nonverbal cues and codes are unfamiliar:

1. Focus on what you can control.
When you experience culture shock, you may feel out of control. Do not spend energy on things you cannot change.
2. Don't invest major energy in minor problems.
Do not make "mountains out of molehills" in cross-cultural situations any more readily than you would in your own culture.
3. Tackle major stressors head-on.
Do not avoid significant problems that need to be addressed.
4. Ask for help.
Create a support network in your host culture. This can include expatriates like yourself as well as people from the local culture.
5. Write it down.
Record your thoughts and frustrations in a journal. This will give you a healthy outlet for expressing your feelings.

Knowing how to survive culture shock or stress can be helpful to missionaries as well as international students who come to our country to study.

Help from the Bible

Can Holy Scripture help us with cross-cultural adjustment? The Book of Acts is a good place to begin because it contains several examples of cross-cultural interaction and adjustment. Paul, who grew up in what is now Turkey and was educated in Jerusalem, traveled throughout the Mediterranean world planting churches in different cultural settings. He later wrote to the Philippians, I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances (Philippians 4:11). Paul also encountered Jewish Christians who insisted that Gentile converts adopt Jewish practices, which would have made Christianity a monocultural movement.

Another relevant biblical account is the story of Ruth. Ruth was a young woman who left her home country and culture and moved to Israel. Ultimately, she became one of the women named in Jesus' genealogy (Matthew 1:5).

Other Bible stories to ponder include:

— Howard Culbertson, hculbert@snu.edu

Links Reverse culture shock and how to cope with it at home — Abbey Road Programs

Reverse culture shock is what people often experience when returning to their home culture after living in another for a period of time. That can be a long process. A 60-year-old MK (missionary kid) wrote, "My parents took us to Brazil when I was seven. The work of adjusting back to the States seems never quite over."

Comparison of Culture Shock and Reverse Culture Shock

Culture shock and reverse culture shock can occur as people enter an unfamiliar culture or return home after an extended absence. Here are the differences between the two:

Culture Shock

  1. Definition:
  2. Context:
  3. Stages:
  4. Symptoms:
  5. Coping strategies:

Reverse Culture Shock

  1. Definition:
  2. Context:
  3. Stages:
  4. Symptoms:
  5. Coping strategies:

Key Differences

Understanding these differences can help you better prepare for and manage your experiences when transitioning between cultures.

More on reentry shock, or reverse culture shock

How do you know you're making progress toward cross-cultural understanding?

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