What is a phobia?

A phobia is described by the NHS as an overwhelming and debilitating fear of an object, place,
situation, feeling or animal.

They are more pronounced than fears and tend to develop when a person has an exaggerated or
unrealistic sense of danger regarding a situation or object.

If a phobia sufferer doesn't come into contact with the source of their problem very often it may
not affect their life - although in some cases even thinking about the thing they fear can give a
person "anticipatory anxiety".

If a phobia becomes very severe, the person suffering may organise their life around avoiding the
aspect that’s causing distress.

Coulrophobia – fear of clowns

Coulrophobia is a persistent fear of clowns, where individuals may feel “shaken or traumatised” at
the thought of them.

Currently the term is not listed in the World Health Organisation's ICD-10 or in the American
Psychiatric Association's categorisation of disorders, but it is very real for those who suffer it.

The fear of clowns dates back years, with comedic clowns being featured in theatre in medieval
times and continued into Shakespearean times with the role of “fool”.

The fool would often be linked with dark truths or death and would constantly question logic in
the play.

In more recent times, portrayal of evil clowns in the media has been a big contributor for instilling
the phobia in many people’s minds.

What causes a fear of clowns? (Diego)

Private psychologist Dr Melanie Phelps spoke exclusively to The Sun about why this phenomenon
exists.

She explains that as children we are familiar with the appearance of our caregivers and family
members and we see them as having a “safe and friendly human face”.

Dr Melanie said: “Clown have unnatural, large, exaggerated and distorted features and therefore
don’t match the ‘safe, friendly human’ pattern we have created in our minds.

“We know that clown faces are brightly coloured, with stark contrasts – for example wide bright
red lips, against a very white background, with exaggerated smiles or expressions which are fixed
and do not change with interaction.
“This triggers an ‘unsafe/ does not match’ alert in our primal brains which indicates this type of
face is unknown, not recognised, possibly unsafe, possibly a threat and we cannot read the facial
expression correctly as it doesn’t match the actions or words.”

This inability to interact with the clown means that we feel potentially under threat and feel
fearful, panicky and threatened.

What are the cures for coulrophobia?

Just like treating other phobias, curing fear often isn’t easy.

Cognitive behaviour therapy can be used to help sufferers change their unproductive thought
patterns.

This allows them to distinguish that their intense fear is in their imagination.

Other treatment that is taken on by acrophobic patients includes behaviour therapy, counselling
and hypnosis.

In some cases, anti-anxiety medication can be prescribed to help relieve the stressful symptoms.

FACTORS THAT CAN CAUSE COULROPHOBIA (Karla)

1. How clowns are introduced to you as a child

If parents make sure that you are smiling and laughing with the clown they can match the pattern
and laugh too and know these distorted faces are harmless and funny and not a threat to them.

2. Individual differences

Some kids love the fun fair rides such as ghost train that surprise them and giggle about that and
some just get scared.

3. Age of exposure

As with horror films – some children may be too young to figure out what is really happening and
it is not a real threat, they may have been Ok if exposed when they were a little older.

The exact ages depend on the child but it is advisable to wait till they are at a stage of maturity
when they are more able to figure things out for themselves a bit more easily.

4. The reaction of others around them

If other kids or adults are scared they are more likely to follow suit.
5. The general level of safety and security the child feels

If there are arguments at home and the child doesn’t feel so secure they might feel self-conscious
or nervous anyway and at around the same time they are introduced to unknown distorted clown
faces, they may be more prone to be scared or anxious.

A paired response can be set up – clowns and fear. Therefore later, the image of a clown or an
actual clown triggers the fear again.

6. Children are more sensitive as their nervous systems develop

They are more sensitive to new smells, different tastes, and different visual or auditory stimuli.
The clowns face and behaviour may just be too overwhelming for that child at that time.

Which celebrities suffer from coulrophobia?

There are a number of celebrities who claim to be sufferers of the phobia. These include Harry
Potter star Daniel Radcliffe, Johnny Depp.

Johnny’s phobia is said to have dated back to nightmares in his childhood where he would see
clowns leering at him.