ObjectiveFrom a psychological point of view, this article aims to understand the attachment theory's contribution to the psychical elaboration of death for ‘resident elderly’ in nursing homes. Physical, cognitive and social losses make people to be aware of death. A psychical elaboration–the ability to attribute subjective meanings to events - permits to integrate death. Psychical elaboration depends on mentalization, but proximity of death alters mentalization: individuals are no longer able to use appropriate emotional strategies to express a request for social support. These strategies are highlighted by attachment. Social support can help individuals to understand their state of mind. So, social support can ease mentalization and psychical elaboration. We assume that difficulties in finding social support, due to alteration of mentalization and inter relational strategies, complicate psychical elaboration of death. MethodWe report a clinical case of Pierre, 90 years old, who lives in a French nursing home. This case comes from a qualitative study carried out with thirty-three nursing homes’ residents in Switzerland and France. In-depth interview – inspired by Adult Attachment Interview – investigated the participants’ life stories through their relationship experiences, the entry in nursing home, their views on their present and their future, and the meaning of their life. The Relation Scales Questionnaire measured attachment and the Mini Geriatric Depression Scale measured depression. ResultsTo understand the psychical elaboration of death, mentalization and the way how individuals seek social support - underlined by attachment - must be investigated. The proximity of death alters mentalization. The difficulties of mentalization influence attachment: the individuals use emotional regulation strategies which do not allow them to benefit from social support. However, this support could help them to understand their internal state and indirectly support difficulties of mentalization and favour the psychical elaboration. Social support is therefore essential in the psychical elaboration of death. The other's place in old age is also questioned and raises a paradox. Get closer to the other to benefit from social support allows to overcome difficulties of mentalization. But the comparison of oneself with the other as different reinforces the self-esteem. ConclusionFor professionals in nursing homes, providing social support to people who do not seek help and do not appear to need social support is essential. Adopting the therapeutic framework (art therapy, the use of a media) to each person's personality seems to be important.