El Síndrome de Titono

Abstract

Tithonus Syndrome is a recently established diagnosis referring to a mythological narrative from the era of classical Greece. It tells a story about youth, aging, longevity, and death. Today it is used as an emblem of a series of historical and psychopathological aspects that emanate from an inadequate perception of the aging process, the prejudices that accompany it, and the role of various biological substrates - cellular senescence, the principles of physical and mental aging among many - as well as accompanying psychological and psychiatric disorders such as gerascophobia, gerontophobia, heautoscopy and attitudes and treatment towards the senescent and senescence (ageism). The organic pathology of aging is elaborated within the physical and social system in which it develops and its demographic and economic consequences. Glimpsing the future evolution of these processes, the themes of senicide and euthanasia are introduced.