Empty nest syndrome is a feeling of obvious feeling of loneliness amongst parents or guardians when their children leave home for college or school, around whom their whole life revolved for so many years at home. It is more conspicuous in non-working mothers and guardians, who used to spend most of their time taking care of children from their nutrition, clothing and nurturing. When child leaves the home for schooling or college, the guardians feel an empty gap in their life and in the worst case some think that their purpose of life has ceased because most of their life used to revolve around that kid.

The symptoms of Empty nest syndrome may range from a mild to a very harmful one. General symptoms are a feeling of loneliness, emptiness or a gap in life. Some start having a feeling of purposelessness, they start feeling unwanted or no longer needed in a physical or psychological way. Recent researches have shown that the syndrome is more prevalent in the cultures where the grand parents look after their grandchildren in an extended family. But when the child leaves, they feel very lonely and useless of themselves.

Researches have also shown that it is more common in the regions of Asia and middle-east than in the western societies because these places have more extended family culture than nuclear family culture. Modernization of even these places has made caring for elder family members very impracticable for the family members resulting in unavailability of anyone to be with those elderly members. This is more common in grandparents, or housewives who don’t work outside.

The cure to this syndrome is to find ways to divert the mind of the one affected with it. The easiest way to do so is to get a pet. They get to take care of pet like they did of their child and also they feel a sense of purpose.