GC: n
S: UN – https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/09/1048252 (last access: 10 December 2023); OCitizen – https://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/cross-the-age-of-gerontophobia-or-how-our-fear-of-the-elderly-still-runs-strong (last access: 10 December 2023).
N: 1. Neologism created from geronto-, used as combining form of Greekgeron (genitive gerontos) “old man,” from PIE root *gere- (1) “to grow old” and -phobia, the word-forming element from Greek phobos “fear, panic fear, terror, outward show of fear”.
2. Gerontophobia is the irrational fear of old people or of growing old. Someone suffering from this condition can expect to experience a very high amount of anxiety from merely thinking of old people or of growing old, let alone actually seeing an old person. In fact, their anxiety may be so intense that they may even endure a full-blown panic attack as a result of it. Although such an influx of anxiety will not always be the case for everyone suffering from gerontophobia, it is still very plausible to occur, nonetheless.
3. Gerontophobia, or irrational dislike of the elderly, is a psychopathological defense mechanism on a mass basis. There are medical, legal and social varieties. Three therapeutic possibilities are: 1) mass education, 2) insight therapy, and 3) intra-group mobilization.
4. Ageism, a form of prejudice and discrimination based on age, was originally formulated by the psychiatrist Robert Neil Butler in 1969 to refer specifically to prejudicial attitudes towards older people, old age, and the ageing process; discrimination against older people; and the stereotyping of older people. Nowadays, ageism applies as a general term for prejudices about – and discrimination against – people based on age, so children, adolescents, and young people can feel the brunt of it as well. […] Fears about ageing and old age are some of the most common and enduring fears that exist. Here, it is useful to introduce the terms gerontophobia (the fear of ageing, the fear of older people, or the fear of age-related self-degeneration) and the related term gerascophobia (the fear of getting old). The main difference between the two terms is that gerontophobia can also include the fear of older people, whereas gerascophobia does not include this: it’s more about the individual’s anxieties about growing old.
5. Cultural Interrelation: We can mention the research GERONTOPHOBIA IN “THE COMING OF AGE” BY SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR: AN INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDY (April, 2023) by Iryna Soroka.
S: 1. OED – https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=gerontology; https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=phobia (last access: 4 December 2023). 2. PTimes – https://psychtimes.com/gerontophobia-fear-of-old-people-or-of-growing-old/ (last access: 4 December 2023). 3. JAGS – https://agsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1532-5415.1973.tb01222.x (last access: 13 December 2023). 4. SWoolfe – https://www.samwoolfe.com/2021/01/fears-ageing-old-age-negative-attitudes-older-people.html (last access: 4 December 2023). 5. IJAHSS – http://pure.jgu.edu.in/id/eprint/5987/1/Gerontophobia_article_Soroka%20I..pdf (last access: 13 December 2023).
SYN:
S:
CR: ageism, geriatrics, gerontology, intolerance, phobia.
