Could/should a severely depressed person volunteer abroad?
I feel like I should start with the caveat that the effects of depression vary significantly from person to person, and that I suspect that I was never as depressed as you are now. However, I did volunteer in West Africa while I was suffering from depression and it actually helped me a lot. It wasn’t a miracle cure by any means, but the change of scenery, the very limited amount of “alone time,” and the (sometimes forced) interaction with other people definitely got me out of my head. I didn’t have any real skills, and only a slight idea of what I wanted to do with my life, but I found that my volunteer experience actually helped me gain some skills and direction. The program was only about a month and a half long, but I managed to find a job a year later in the same country doing similar work. If you decide to go abroad, make sure that you find a program that is very structured and very short. I found my initial program through my university, but I’ve seen other programs that take jus
The worst thing that could possibly happen is the OP goes somewhere and doesn’t enjoy it… No, really, that is not the worst that could happen. Being depressed doesn’t just mean “not enjoying things;” a really acute depressive episode can mean being unable to get out of the house (and sometimes even out of bed) for days, or to accomplish small life tasks like showering or making/buying a meal. This is bad enough when you are in a city where you have a support system, where you have financial resources, where you are a permanent legal resident of the country (and your presence there/health insurance/etc. don’t rely on working a specific job or attending classes at a specific university). In a city where you know no one, in a country where your visa depends on various conditions you may not be able to fulfill if you’re in the middle of a really bad depressive episode, things can get worse. The isolation and culture shock that affect even healthy people, running out of money, legal issue
