‘Study on the solution to mental health problems of parents left alone due to children being away’ done by Punjabi University
Kanwar Inder Singh/ roaylapatiala.in News/ July 23,2023
In a recent research of the Department of Psychology of Punjabi University, a study has been conducted to resolve the mental health problems of those parents who are suffering from depression due to physical separation of their children for any reason. The study has been done by researcher Jasmine Kaur under the supervision of Dr. Mandeep Kaur.
Dr. Mandeep Kaur, while talking about this, said that children across the globe leave their homes for better employment, education, or marriage opportunities. However, India is not an exception, the reason could be, earlier this used to be a western culture, but due to cultural diffusion, urbanisation, industrial revolution and modern nuclear family settings this phenomenon is increasing across various cultural groups. In India too change in socio economic scenario of the country has led to emergence & popularity of nuclear family system both in, rural and urban areas. Earlier in the Indian culture people used to live in extended families and as their children used to leave home parents used to get engrossed into the various responsibilities of other family members.
But nowadays migration of younger generation in search of better opportunities has created a situation where older persons are compelled to live in their houses without their young family members. They feel isolated and alone in absence of their own adult children and grandchildren which makes them feel emotionally distressed and insecure over the loss of their identity as a parent and active parenting. Parents gets so engrossed with negative thoughts that their mind keeps on thinking that they are alone, their children won’t be dependent upon them anymore, loss of meaning in life, nothing is left in their lives and so on. Their minds get so occupied in thinking negative that it’s very difficult for them to think how to cope up and come out from this stressful situation. Therefore, She told, this research was conducted in order to find ways to assist parents in coping with the empty nest phase and to educate them on the fact that they are not alone. Reality therapy, developed by William Glasser, is used as an intervention in the study that focuses on the present and the choices we make, as Glasser states, “We almost always have choices, and the better the choice, the more in control we will be of our lives.”
Researcher Jaismeen kaur told, this study includes 400 participants ranging in age from 45 to 65 years. The study focused on both mothers and fathers. Participants were introduced to various techniques because one of our goals was to equip parents with tools in the form of a psychological first aid kit. A few techniques used in the study included cord cutting, which assisted the parents in detaching from the negative thought process, deep breathing for mental calmness, and the Jacobson relaxation technique. She told that contrary to many earlier studies, this research shows that fathers experience empty nest syndrome as mothers due to their increased involvement in their children’s lives and sharing responsibilities at home. The results of this intervention-based study show reduced levels of depression and emotional distress while increasing the participants’ coping mechanisms. Since the birth of their child, parents’ lives have revolved around their children and have become their sole focus. During this journey, they unconsciously lose sight of their personality, interests, hobbies, and, most importantly, their relationship. The present research assisted parents in rejuvenating their lives by discovering new interests, forming new relationships, and learning to look forward to a bright future and enjoy their empty nest phase as they had earned it.
Vice Chancellor Prof. Arvind specially congratulated the researcher and supervisor for this research. He said that if we look at the large-scale migration from Punjab in today’s era, then this research is very meaningful which will be a great help to the experts working in the field of psychology to work in this direction.
