Empty Nesters Syndrome

Have you recently lost touch of your children due to college, marriage, or moving? You may be experiencing the “empty nester syndrome,” which is the general feeling of loneliness that parents may feel when one or more of their children leave home. This usually happen mostly with women, but it can happen to men as well.

Although this new change can be traumatic, many adults seem to look at it as a time to enjoy their marriage. A study at UC Berkley discovered that couples after their children leave home actually end up happier and have a healthier relationship. While the Berkeley researchers had hypothesized that the improvement in marital happiness came from couples’ spending more time together, the women in the same study reported spending just as much time with their partners whether the children were living at home or had moved out, but they said the quality of that time was better.

If you are expecting your children to be soon moving out here are a few things you can do to be prepared. Prepare your child for the real world so you don’t worry about them, avoid any big changes, write up a list of things you would like to accomplish, and talking to other empty-nesters will always help you cope.