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‘Depleted Grandma Syndrome’ Is Affecting Grandmas Everywhere, and It’s a Serious Issue

As families increasingly rely on grandparents for childcare, experts warn that the emotional and physical demands can come at a cost.

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Many new parents rely on their own parents for childcare, especially when they return to work after parental leave. While this is common in many families, it’s crucial to consider how this expectation affects your parents’ health. In fact, some grandmas are actually experiencing what experts call “depleted grandma syndrome.”

What Is Depleted Grandma Syndrome?

According to Dr. Ashwini Nadkarni, psychiatrist and assistant professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, “Depleted grandmother syndrome refers to the phenomenon of caregiving burnout that can befall grandmothers who have a significant role in caregiving for their grandchildren.” 

Today, new parents often rely on their parents—their children’s grandparents—to care for their kids while they work, as they can’t afford daycare or time off. Most often, grandmothers, not grandfathers, take on this responsibility. 

Though it’s not a true medical diagnosis, depleted grandma syndrome accurately describes a common yet harmful experience many grandmothers face. And as Dr. Nadkarni notes, this syndrome “does have some overlap with a proposed diagnostic entity, ‘depletion syndrome of the elderly’ from the 1980s, which was thought to........

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