Gerascophobia: fear of getting old?

It is known as gerascophobia the intense and persistent fear of a person to the own process of. This fear affects the daily dynamics of the individual and alters their quality of life and personal satisfaction. However, it must be distinguished from the desire to "not grow old" and from the anxiety that most people feel at the prospect of getting older.

Usually, the current trend towards consumerism, leisure and pleasure masks other aspects that are also inherent to life, such as illness, death or old age. For example, the great impact of the media and advertisements, which overvalue beauty and youth to the detriment of everything that seems to age or deteriorate, should not be underestimated. In the same way, society also exerts pressure that leads to judging, on many occasions and especially in certain areas, people more for their physical appearance than for their ability or for their personal and intellectual qualities.

In this way, and under this prism, aspects of the life cycle that are so unique and irremediable such as the aging process or death are, many times, experienced as taboos or as aspects to be denied and avoided.

Who are more predisposed to suffer from this fear of aging?

People who suffer gerascophobia or fear of getting old They associate old age with the fact of ceasing to be dynamic or attractive people, among many other qualities. Possibly there is no single cause that justifies the development of this fear and, in each case, several factors may have converged, in addition to aspects of the personality that may predispose more to its development. But broadly speaking, some possible facilitators are:

• People who, due to their profession or experiences, have lived very focused on some characteristics of youth, such as models, actors, etc. Or, also, people very exposed to social criticism and the judgment of others, such as celebrities, presenters, etc.
• People who, due to certain circumstances, have been very dedicated throughout their lives to taking care of their physical appearance and appearance before others.
• People who, at some point in their life, have been exposed to some difficult or traumatic event, which has led them to associate old age with some unpleasant experience.
• Gerascophobia can also hide a vital dissatisfaction for not having been able to achieve certain goals or significant life projects, along with the feeling of having lost the "most productive or best" years of life.
• Another facilitator who can trigger the fear of getting old It can occur when coming into contact with older people and perceiving the most negative or vulnerable aspects of that vital moment.
• All this, together with personality characteristics such as insecurity, poor frailty or dependency, can also facilitate the development of this pathology.

How does the fear of aging manifest itself?

Gerascophobia or fear of aging it usually appears at the inevitable first signs of maturity, such as, for example, the appearance of the first gray hair, wrinkles, sagging or lack of physical agility. This can lead the person to try to hide these incipient signs or try to appease them through creams, makeup, cosmetic surgery or other systems. Sometimes this fear of getting old It can also cause a person to try to dress in extremely youthful clothing or to adopt inappropriate attitudes and behaviors for their age, among other behaviors.

The most common manifestations when suffering from this pathology are:

• Having negative and recurring thoughts about the future and the fact of getting older.
• Worrying about it and feeling intense anxiety before these types of thoughts or when detecting evidence of maturity.
• Feelings of insecurity and sadness due to the lack of control over a body that was previously perceived as more attractive or moldable.
• Impotence due to not being able to stop the natural aging process.
• These manifestations are usually associated with other fears such as fear of frailty, feeling vulnerable, worsening health, dependence on other people, loneliness or not feeling useful or capable, among many other consequences.
• These individuals also tend to have interpersonal problems from entering into comparisons with other younger people, wanting to compete with them in vital aspects or feeling envy towards them for having a more youthful appearance.
• Sometimes they tend to enter into obsessive dynamics, such as insistently examining their own appearance in the mirror or spending a lot of time trying to hide the signs of maturity.

What to do in the face of these demonstrations?

Although it would be necessary to carry out a personalized study of each individual to understand how this fear has come to be triggered, in broad strokes it can be proposed:

• Carry out introspective work in search of qualities and values ​​in the person, perhaps not so externally visible but very rewarding and valuable; that is, to look inside each one to know and value oneself for who they are.
• Don't try to cover up unavoidable signs of maturity. On the contrary, accept them naturally and live with them.
• Continue taking care of the physical aspect, without going to the opposite extreme of abandonment.
• Take stock of one's life, the stages and experiences lived, accepting the life cycle as it is and the peculiarities and possibilities of each moment.
• Try to use a sense of humor and optimism. The positive attitude and the will to live, to enjoy and to learn should not be lost over the years.
• Do not make impulsive decisions about significant aspects that could have important consequences, such as, for example, about undergoing certain unproven treatments or cosmetic surgeries with doubtful results.
• Relativize, giving the right importance to things and see the signs of maturity as concrete and limited aspects.
• Taking care of them, physical exercise and sleep will provide a good starting point to better fit any challenge that arises.
• Keep your mind busy, perform cognitive exercises that stimulate and improve attention, concentration and memory.
• Caring for and maintaining the customs and hobbies of the person. Likewise, it is important to have a satisfactory social life, since contact and communication with trusted people can help to relativize and contrast opinions, insecurities and fears.
• Seek the help of a psychology professional if oneself, by one's own means, is not able to overcome this fear and, above all, when it interferes with the person's life in a significant way. The insurances have a wide medical team of psychology specialists who will guide you in a personalized way before any problem.

• There is no mistaking this pathology characterized by the intense and persistent fear of aging, the desire not to grow old and the concern over the passage of time that almost all of us have.
• People who suffer from gerascophobia associate old age with the fact of ceasing to be dynamic or attractive people, among many other qualities.
• Each case should be treated individually, but it is convenient to do an introspective work in search of your own qualities and values, perhaps not so externally visible but very rewarding and valuable.

Elena Killed

Specialist in Clinical Psychology