ABSTRACT
Old people are people. This statement of the obvious is only made because too frequently old people are not treated as people, and this is particularly so if they behave abnormally, or show other evidence that there may be something amiss with their mind. If an elderly person becomes agitated, miserable, expresses odd ideas, becomes a little forgetful, or in a multitude of ways appears to deviate from what some consider normal, it is likely that he or she will be considered ‘senile’. The word senile carries an unpleasant and even censorious effect. ‘You are going senile’ and ‘senile old fool’ are expressions of abuse, and even when the word is used in a kindly context, such as ‘You should make allowances, she is senile’ or ‘The poor old thing is going senile’, the inference is still one that suggests that the old person is ceasing to be a person.
