Age, rage, and the fear of AIDS

In this paper, the author has presented an in-depth case report of the ongoing analysis of an aging male homosexual, who entered analysis in his late fifties because of his fear of AIDS. This initial spur to his motivation to achieve characterological change was joined subsequently by two other factors. These were the "last chance" syndrome described by Pearl King (1980) and the wish to achieve a richer life than that of his father. As a result of these forces acting in confluence in his life, the patient was able to move from a lower to a higher level of object relatedness. The relationship between the intense narcissistic traumata suffered by male homosexuals on growing older, in terms of their no longer being found desirable in the world of bars and bathhouses, and their accessibility to psychotherapeutic and psychoanalytic treatment is described and discussed.