Don"t Clown Around With Coulrophobia
In the universe of phobias out there that people may unfortunately suffer from, the abnormal fear of clowns that some people experience, called coulrophobia, oftentimes isn't taken as seriously as it should be.
Make no mistake; it's a real and serious fear, though the term itself isn't used very often - if at all - in psychology or by psychiatrists or clinical psychologists, so don't clown around with coulrophobia.
In many cases, coulrophobia develops in young children who are startled or frightened by the appearance of a clown in their environment.
For some reason, that fear is carried over into adulthood, and though a sufferer may understand on one level that a clown isn't usually anything to be afraid of, on a deeper level it can be a debilitating experience for many.
Because of the nature of coulrophobia, it sometimes can affect the ability of men or women to apply makeup, or even Halloween-type paints, to their faces.
Even the thought of seeing a clown or being confronted by one can incapacitate a person when the phobia is in its most serious clinical manifestation.
Lately, in an effort to accommodate the issues surrounding children being frightened by clown themes in pediatric medical wards, hospitals have tended to shift to other more innocuous decoration such as clouds or balloons and the like.
Coulrophobia seems to be more widespread than was first believed, with many carnivals or festivals being forced to cancel the services of clowns or clown supply companies when large numbers of festival-goers began to complain in a more vocal fashion about their fear of clowns.
Coulrophobia can be a painful slap in the face to circuses, also, where the presence of clowns - whose trade goes back for thousands of years in almost every historic culture in some fashion or another - has come to be an expected entertainment.
In the end, it's helpful to realize that actual clinical coulrophobia is no laughing matter.
People can suffer sheer panic and anxiety even at the thought of being confronted by a clown, and there's not much that can be done to treat that fear.
Make no mistake; it's a real and serious fear, though the term itself isn't used very often - if at all - in psychology or by psychiatrists or clinical psychologists, so don't clown around with coulrophobia.
In many cases, coulrophobia develops in young children who are startled or frightened by the appearance of a clown in their environment.
For some reason, that fear is carried over into adulthood, and though a sufferer may understand on one level that a clown isn't usually anything to be afraid of, on a deeper level it can be a debilitating experience for many.
Because of the nature of coulrophobia, it sometimes can affect the ability of men or women to apply makeup, or even Halloween-type paints, to their faces.
Even the thought of seeing a clown or being confronted by one can incapacitate a person when the phobia is in its most serious clinical manifestation.
Lately, in an effort to accommodate the issues surrounding children being frightened by clown themes in pediatric medical wards, hospitals have tended to shift to other more innocuous decoration such as clouds or balloons and the like.
Coulrophobia seems to be more widespread than was first believed, with many carnivals or festivals being forced to cancel the services of clowns or clown supply companies when large numbers of festival-goers began to complain in a more vocal fashion about their fear of clowns.
Coulrophobia can be a painful slap in the face to circuses, also, where the presence of clowns - whose trade goes back for thousands of years in almost every historic culture in some fashion or another - has come to be an expected entertainment.
In the end, it's helpful to realize that actual clinical coulrophobia is no laughing matter.
People can suffer sheer panic and anxiety even at the thought of being confronted by a clown, and there's not much that can be done to treat that fear.
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