Gerontophobia

Gerontophobia is the hatred or fear of older adults, or a fear of one's own age-related decline, similar to gerascophobia. The word comes from the Greek geron, meaning old man, and phobos, meaning fear. Where it comes from a fear of aging it has been linked to thanatophobia, the fear of death, since old age can be felt as a step toward dying, and the sight of aged people may act as a reminder of mortality and biological vulnerability. It is strongly tied to ageism, which is discriminatory treatment of older people and can appear as hostility toward them. Stereotypes of older adults in the media are named as one contributing cause, and negative portrayals of old age run through literature from Anglo-Saxon poetry to King Lear, Gulliver's Travels and Persuasion. The article describes a shift toward more negative views of the elderly after the Anglo-Saxon period. Treatment can include better education about older people and aging, more exposure to them and insight therapy.