Empty Nest Syndrome - Symptoms, Effects and Challenges

Symptoms, Effects and Challenges

While all parents are susceptible to experiencing empty nest syndrome, there are factors that contribute to some parents being more likely to experience it than others such as:

• Finding change to be stressful rather than refreshing
• Having an unstable or unsatisfactory marriage
• Being a full-time parent as opposed to a parent who has other duties such as employment
• Parents who do not believe their child is ready to be on his or her own
• People whose identity was based around being a parent

Adults who are also dealing with other stressful life events such as menopause, death of a spouse, or retirement are more likely to experience empty nest syndrome ("Empty Nest Syndrome," 2010).

Symptoms of empty nest syndrome include, but are not limited to:

• Depression
• Loss of purpose
• Worry, stress, or anxiety over the welfare of the child
• Feelings of rejection

Parents who experience empty nest syndrome often question whether or not they have prepared their child to live on his or her own. Some often feel rejected over the belief their child does not need them anymore. Others still feel a sense of loss of purpose. They may question their purpose because raising, parenting, and disciplining their children is no longer their primary role in life (Myers & Raup, 1989). Mothers, often the primary caregivers, are more likely than fathers to experience empty nest syndrome ("Empty Nest Syndrome," 2010) though research has shown that some fathers expressed feeling unprepared for the emotional transition accompanied with their child leaving home and guilt over lost opportunities to be more involved in their children's lives before they left home (Clay, 2003).

They face challenges such as establishing a new kind of relationship with their children, having to find other ways to occupy their newly free time, reconnecting with their spouse, and facing lack of sympathy from people who believe that parents should be happy when their children leave home ("Empty Nest Syndrome," 2010).