ABSTRACT
Old age is a crisis in the life cycle which involves an unavoidable confrontation with human transience and an identity crisis similar to the angst of adolescence. Old people often experience hypochondria, depression, and a surge of narcissism. Though psychoanalysis is more respectful of the elderly than most professions, institutes and their communities struggle to deal with luminaries who are showing signs of cognitive decline or dealing with a terminal illness. This chapter considers the question of how termination with the aging analyst can be handled therapeutically. It also considers a few advantages of aging and techniques to cope with its challenges. The crucial need for objects to project into and identify with is emphasized.
