Gerontophobia

Gerontophobia (from Greek gerōn, "old man") is the fear of old people or the elderly. People with gerontophobia may fear elderly people or being elderly themselves. Young people oftentimes do not understand people older than them and they fear them. They believe that there is nothing in common and isolating themselves from old people turn into fear and hatred of the elderly. The fear of older people may have been brought about by previous interaction with the elderly who may already have and display childish or even violent behavior.

Symptoms of gerontophobia are synonymous to many anxiety disorders, like rapid breathing, palpations, thoughts of death and dying, losing control, and feeling detached from reality. When confronted with their fears, they usually panic. are often used to handle stressful situations.

This phobia is closely related with gerascophobia, fear of getting old.