Today's coined word: Literothanatophobia

[dianeduane]

Or, "The fear of death in literature."

A British book retailer plans to set up a counseling hotline for all heartbroken fans of Harry Potter, in case he dies in the much awaited next book.

As a former psychiatric professional, I can kind of see the point.  ...But I do start wondering, sometimes... Are human beings actually less robust, more fragile, than they used to be -- or are we just being encouraged to believe we are? 

And I remember clearly the resilience and fortitude of my younger patients as compared to the so-called "adults". The kids were endlessly more pragmatic and better at handling pain than the grownups. Any bets on the percentage of over-eighteens who wind up being counseled, as opposed to the under-eighteens?...

Comments

[marrael.livejournal.com]

No. That's called education! ;)

Seriously, I grew up knowing where meat came from, and would witness plucking and/or gutting either when my mum was cooking, or when my relatives were cooking, or if my mum was at the old-fashioned market making the butcher do it for her. Kids take cues from grown-ups about what is normalcy, so I took it all in as normal. My experience is probably getting more and more rare considering how meat is sold nowadays - so deceptively sterile-looking!