Empty nest syndrome is a general feeling of grief and loneliness parents or guardians may feel when their children leave home to live on their own for the first time. Since a young adult moving out their parents' house is seen as a normal and healthy event, the symptoms of empty nest syndrome often go unrecognized ("Empty Nest Syndrome," 2010). For parents, this can result in depression, as well as a loss of purpose. When their children finally “leave the nest”, parents must begin to adjust their lives accordingly.
Read more about Empty Nest Syndrome: Symptoms, Effects and Challenges, Coping, Myth Versus Reality, Not-so-empty Nest
Famous quotes containing the words empty, nest and/or syndrome:
“The river’s tent is broken; the last fingers of leaf
Clutch and sink into the wet bank. The wind
Crosses the brown land, unheard. The nymphs are departed.
Sweet Thames, run softly, till I end my song.
The river bears no empty bottles, sandwich papers,
Silk handkerchiefs, cardboard boxes, cigarette ends
Or other testimony of summer nights.”
—T.S. (Thomas Stearns)
“Now’s the time for mirth and play,
Saturday’s an holiday;
Praise to heaven unceasing yield,
I’ve found a lark’s nest in the field.”
—Christopher Smart (1722–1771)
“[T]he syndrome known as life is too diffuse to admit of palliation. For every symptom that is eased, another is made worse. The horse leech’s daughter is a closed system. Her quantum of wantum cannot vary.”
—Samuel Beckett (1906–1989)