Watching a child grow and leave home for school, work or marriage is a period that comes with a lot of mixed feelings. It is easier to deal with this syndrome when it is the first child leaving. When the last is about to leave it is more difficult and many parents admit that it is the toughest time of their lives. Although it is every parents wish that their children grow into responsible independent adults who can take decisions on their own and finally cleave from family to a spouse or to attain degrees, the period comes sooner than expected.
There is a lot to understand about the Empty Nest Syndrome, why parents experience it and how to deal with it.
The syndrome is not a disorder and does not need clinical diagnosis. It is a phase where parents experience sadness and a sense of loss when a child, especially the last, leaves home. This experience of letting go can be painful because parents who usually have spent the most parts of their lives working to cater for their children have no one to take care off. Obviously, they will also miss being part of the children’s daily lives and the attitudes they put up occasionally. The constant companionship is also a reason for this syndrome.
The safety of the children when they move to countries or cities they have never been before is a thing parents worry about. Parents who strongly identify with their parenting roles suffer this more. Mothers, for example, do not trust that the children will be able to take care of their own safety as they have done and thus suffer the most.
