There comes a time in the life of every parent when the youngest child leaves home. For most parents, the experience creates a mixture of negative and positive emotions.
Parents often report feelings of sadness and loneliness, particularly if they are single.
People who have identified strongly with their role as a parent can even find the experience to be disorienting. This is sometimes reported by women who have never worked outside the home. On the other hand, after a period of adaptation most parents enjoy the freedom from their former responsibilities, the new-found privacy and the opportunity to create a new kind of a life. They also enjoy their relationship with their grown children. This information is not a tool for self-diagnosis or a substitute for professional care.