The Empty Nest Syndrome

The Dr. Laura Podcast

Dr. Laura Schlessinger & SiriusXM

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4.6 • 6.3K Ratings

🗓️ 21 January 2026

⏱️ 9 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Listen to my Morning Monologue: I’m sharing my take on pressing issues, enlightening research on human behavior, answering questions I get by email, and my favorite, most instructive interactions with callers. Everything you’ll hear is designed to help you become a better spouse, parent, family member, co-worker, friend, and human being. It’s the free therapy you need! Call 1-800-DR-LAURA / 1-800-375-2872 or make an appointment at DrLaura.com

Transcript

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0:00.0	Thank you for listening to my morning monologue.
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0:18.5	Remember, you can hear my radio program daily on Sirius XM Triumph and connect with me 24-7 at
0:26.6	Dr.ora.com.
0:28.3	People have come on the program, mostly women, talking about empty nest syndrome, meaning
0:35.7	the kids are up and out.
0:37.4	They're either up in college, they finally left and got married.
0:41.4	And to bring the end of this back to the beginning, I worry that some parents,
0:48.0	some parents, make the effort to keep the adult children at home to avoid emptiness syndrome.
0:57.6	So that's why they're tolerant of all the misbehaviors of their kids going in, out, doing this, failing, and, well, we're just taking care of them.
1:07.1	They have this, they have that, anything to avoid this transition. Keep that in mind.
1:18.1	But so I tried to find some numbers. They're not easy to find. Around 25% of parents report
1:24.2	experiencing empty nest syndrome. 70% of parents were happy for the change in
1:32.3	lifestyle. They were happy for the freedom. Nonetheless, a lot of them felt some grief, some
1:41.3	loneliness, because a whole other part of their lives is over.
1:47.6	But, as I said, 70% enjoyed the new lifestyle.
1:51.1	That's a healthy amount.
1:53.5	Mothers versus fathers, mothers were significantly more likely, over six times more likely
1:59.8	to report emptiness syndrome, E-N ENS, I'll call it.
2:05.1	Some mothers facing serious, profound, long-term issues, like 10%.
2:11.6	So need profound mental health interception in that. Now, I don't think it's hard to explain why the
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