5 Tips For Dealing With The Empty Nest Syndrome
Empty nest syndrome refers to the feelings of loss that parents may experience when their children leave the family home. Roles change and this can create a great void, especially when a large part of your life has been devoted to being a mother or father. In this article we will give you 5 tips for dealing with empty nest syndrome.
The empty nest syndrome
Empty nest syndrome is a period or stage in life when parents experience a feeling of loss that causes sadness when children leave the family home and can even lead to depression.
Empty nest syndrome is a diagnosed clinical disorder. However, most medical research agrees that it is women who suffer the most and have the most difficulty coping with it.
Psychotherapist and social worker Amy Morin explains that parents with empty nest syndrome experience a deep emptiness in their lives and often feel a little lost. Empty nest syndrome can also affect children’s lives, interfering with their independence and self-determination.
Symptoms and origin of empty nest syndrome
According to the American Psychiatric Association (APA), one of the most common causes of empty nest syndrome is a conflicting relationship between parents and children. If parents maintain a relationship of detachment and even hostility with their children, both may suffer more once the children leave home to live alone.
Regarding the symptoms of empty nest syndrome, the APA identifies:
- Sadness.
- Lost.
- Depression.
- Anguish.
- Solitude.
- Feeling of emptiness.
5 tips for dealing with empty nest syndrome
1. Stay in touch
Thanks to the great social media revolution, many families are effectively coping with the empty nest syndrome. Today, keeping in touch, even on a daily basis, once the children have left the house, is much easier thanks to instant messaging applications and video calls.
2. Establish a routine
Each family and each member has their own rhythms. Therefore, it is important to establish a routine, for example, of calls, before the child leaves home. In this way, the rhythms of each are respected, while establishing a periodic commitment to maintain contact.
3. Look for new challenges
Clearly, parenting is one of the biggest challenges you face, if not the biggest. To avoid the feeling of emptiness after meeting the great challenge of raising and educating a child, it is essential to set new goals. For example, starting the college career you’ve always dreamed of or learning to play an instrument.
4. Take your time
Undoubtedly, children take up much of their parents’ time, determining their daily lifestyle and routine. Once children leave the house, parents can experience great episodes of loneliness and not knowing how to deal with empty nest syndrome.
In this sense, it will be essential to know yourself in depth, find new interests and fill the agenda with activities such as going to the gym or reconnecting with old friends.
5. Get back to enjoying life as a couple
According to psychologist Morin, when children leave the house, parents can experience a new opportunity to be reunited. Probably, all the free time they shared was taken up by their children, so once they leave the house, parents need to look for new interests in common and start enjoying their free time as a couple.
To enjoy life as a couple again, for example, you could organize romantic dates or carefree trips, thinking only of each other.
Redefine the role of parents: the key to dealing with the empty nest syndrome
Once the children “fly” away from the nest, the role of the parents remains, of course, irreplaceable. The duties of parents will not focus so much on assistance and protection, but on being there when their children need it. It is important for children to be sure that their parents will always be there for them.
-Celia Dodd-
