The Empty nest syndrome is something that afflicts a lot of parents, particularly women when their children leave the parental home either for educational reasons, because of a job, marriage or a relationship or because it is just time for a child to move on in life.
Parents, and in particular the mother will often experience symptoms such as these:
- Women commonly experience depression when a child or children leave. They may find themselves crying more and more often, and may feel disinterest in the things that they hitherto found interesting. Some may even experience sleeplessness and lower energy levels.
- Sometimes parents may find that the glue that held their relationship in place has vanished; many find a void or emptiness in the marriage itself. Sadly, a number of marriages end in the aftermath of the empty nest.
- There may be feelings of uselessness when a child leaves, and some mothers, particularly those who do not work outside the home and who suddenly find that their daily work load is greatly reduced with a child leaving, may feel somewhat purposeless. The fact that they have less to do may bring not relief but a feeling of uselessness.
