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

[wondergecko.livejournal.com]

I agree; is there corroborating evidence for such a hotline?

And, to counteract a perceived trend (not from madfilkentist, but from the above comments) of Internetizens Deny the Excesses of the Modern World, we may just be seeing a very vocal but disturbed fraction here, rather than what is typical for most well-adjusted citizens of your country of choice.

"Thousands of Potter fans soldier on through beloved protagonist's death; 'meh,' say readers of Deathly Hallows" does not make a very good headline. Nor would--more generally--most things implying that the majority of people are fairly well-adjusted when it comes to death. I mean, I'm sure such things DO make the news, but it's in passing and with not nearly as much "screen time" as people deranging over stuff many of us just deal with every day.