Abstract

The aim of this paper is to contribute to the debate on the ageing society, not in its more overt aspects, but in its more latent aspects, which are little or not at all considered in the specialized literature. In light of the rapidly ageing population and the persistent invisibility of age-related issues, this paper sets out to explore the psychopathology of an ageing society. On this basis and bearing in mind that this is only a first approximation, the hypothesis of three figures that would be the negated double of the ageing society is hereby proposed: Thanato-Mutations gesellschaft, Alterwerden-Spaltung and Völkermord-Spaltung. These three figures are explained from as interdisciplinary an approach as possible, incorporating demographic data, but considering contributions from economics, philosophy, sociology, social psychology and psychoanalysis, among others. Finally, it is important to underline that the purpose of this article is to contribute to the debate on ageing society, its meaning and its decisive impact in social, cultural, political and other terms. Unfortunately, there is still very little written about it in the specialized literature. Hence the importance we hope this article will have in this respect.

Keywords:Ageing society; Psychopathology; Old age; Thanatical