The Biomedical Deconstruction of Senility and the Persistent Stigmatization of Old Age in the United States

This oft-quoted characterization of the seventh and final stage of a person’s life has usually been taken as a commonplace of old age: this period has always been stigmatized. In particular, the mental losses associated with age, “second childishness and mere oblivion,” have been among the most deeply stigmatized conditions. In its frightening totality—effacing the memories and abilities that are widely seen as the very essence of personhood—senile dementia seems to taint the entire experience of aging. In its relentless inevitability, deeply associated with aging and the mere passage of time, it makes a mockery of the achievement