empty nest syndrome

empty nest syndrome

n.

A feeling of depression experienced by some parents after their children have grown and left home.

The American Heritage® Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2007, 2004 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

A popular term for the constellation of symptoms described in middle-aged women whose children have left home (the ‘nest’)—e.g., for college/university, career, marriage

Segen's Medical Dictionary. © 2012 Farlex, Inc. All rights reserved.

empty nest syndrome

Psychology A popular term for the understudied constellation of Sx described in middle-aged ♀ whose children have left home/the 'nest' for college/university, career, marriage Clinical Depression, loss of self-esteem, loneliness, as mom has lost her principle raison d'etre–ie, raising children, who no longer depend on her for their needs

McGraw-Hill Concise Dictionary of Modern Medicine. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.