Why do I fear clowns?

[southwardbound]

Can anyone relate to my problem? I have an irrational fear of clowns, puppets and ventriluquists dummies, and in the recent year or so it has spiralled out od control. I simply avoided seeing these things until one day in English class, a book was handed out with a ventriloquists dummy's photo on the front cover. I was terrified and it resulted in a major (and very embarrassing given that I am 16) panic attack. Since then clowns have performed in my high street, sending me into panic attacks and fits of tears, and puppet shows are also inexplicably being put on regularly, and on one occasion the performer approached me with the puppet and I just had to run down the highstreet, the fear was so intense. Ventriloquists dummies have also recently appeared when I've been watching Dead Ringers and Hollyoaks and Blue Peter I believe one day while channel switching, and the mere image causes me to scream in shock and horror, causing family to come running thinking something terrible has happened. I really don't understand why I could possibly have this irrational and terrifying phobia, but it is out of control.
Please if anyone at all can relate can you let me know how you deal with it etc.
Amy xx

 

[southwardbound]

Can anyone relate to my problem? I have an irrational fear of clowns, puppets and ventriluquists dummies, and in the recent year or so it has spiralled out od control. I simply avoided seeing these things until one day in English class, a book was handed out with a ventriloquists dummy's photo on the front cover. I was terrified and it resulted in a major (and very embarrassing given that I am 16) panic attack. Since then clowns have performed in my high street, sending me into panic attacks and fits of tears, and puppet shows are also inexplicably being put on regularly, and on one occasion the performer approached me with the puppet and I just had to run down the highstreet, the fear was so intense. Ventriloquists dummies have also recently appeared when I've been watching Dead Ringers and Hollyoaks and Blue Peter I believe one day while channel switching, and the mere image causes me to scream in shock and horror, causing family to come running thinking something terrible has happened. I really don't understand why I could possibly have this irrational and terrifying phobia, but it is out of control.
Please if anyone at all can relate can you let me know how you deal with it etc.
Amy xx

 

[David Baxter PhD]

why do i fear clowns etc?

Amy, in another post you described symptoms which might be OCD. Now you are describing what sounds like phobic behavior or possibly a post-traumatic reaction of some sort.

The common thread is that these are all anxiety-based.

As I said in reply to your other post, I think you should start by talking to your family doctor.

 

[David Baxter PhD]

why do i fear clowns etc?

Amy, in another post you described symptoms which might be OCD. Now you are describing what sounds like phobic behavior or possibly a post-traumatic reaction of some sort.

The common thread is that these are all anxiety-based.

As I said in reply to your other post, I think you should start by talking to your family doctor.

 

[southwardbound]

why do i fear clowns etc?

thanks, as I said, I'm going to the doctors tomorrow, I'll mention my phobias too... I get panic attacks also. I'm just panic ridden at the moment it seems.
Amyxx

 

[southwardbound]

why do i fear clowns etc?

thanks, as I said, I'm going to the doctors tomorrow, I'll mention my phobias too... I get panic attacks also. I'm just panic ridden at the moment it seems.
Amyxx

 

[kamikazi989]

why do i fear clowns etc?

As a child, I had obessive nightmares or "Night Terrors". Mainly because I watched to many scary movies at a young age, the one being the worse was Childs Play. God, that movie terrified me to death and I had nightmares every night for years about that "doll". I feared going to bed because I knew what was going to happen. I tried staying up as long as possible but would slip into sleep unnoticably and would be dreaming having nightmares when I thought I was awake, which made it even worse. I would try to wake myself up from the dream, I won't give you details of it just because I don't want to scare you, but it wouldn't work, which made me think it was real for sure. Consider I was also a kid, it was horrible. And it was always about that damn doll. Finally, im not exactly sure what it was, but it went away. I had a few dreams of me actually fighting back killing him because I think I was getting more mature on the subject. I realised alot of things... One, he is just a doll how much harm can he do? Two, he has a weakness like any other thing in the world. Three, he was insane so I could outsmart him in many ways... etc... I also had one dream where I made friends with him?? That was a weird one. But point is, there are logical reasons why you shouldn't be scared and you should fight back in some way or another to fully supress it. Attack it head on.

 

[kamikazi989]

why do i fear clowns etc?

As a child, I had obessive nightmares or "Night Terrors". Mainly because I watched to many scary movies at a young age, the one being the worse was Childs Play. God, that movie terrified me to death and I had nightmares every night for years about that "doll". I feared going to bed because I knew what was going to happen. I tried staying up as long as possible but would slip into sleep unnoticably and would be dreaming having nightmares when I thought I was awake, which made it even worse. I would try to wake myself up from the dream, I won't give you details of it just because I don't want to scare you, but it wouldn't work, which made me think it was real for sure. Consider I was also a kid, it was horrible. And it was always about that damn doll. Finally, im not exactly sure what it was, but it went away. I had a few dreams of me actually fighting back killing him because I think I was getting more mature on the subject. I realised alot of things... One, he is just a doll how much harm can he do? Two, he has a weakness like any other thing in the world. Three, he was insane so I could outsmart him in many ways... etc... I also had one dream where I made friends with him?? That was a weird one. But point is, there are logical reasons why you shouldn't be scared and you should fight back in some way or another to fully supress it. Attack it head on.

 

[stargazer]

Re: why do i fear clowns etc?

I think, Amy, that you've probably made progress since whenever this thread was posted, but I just want to say that I also find something in clowns, ventriloquist's dummies, puppets, etc., that is strangely unsettling. All of these figures are not quite human, but they are replicating or imitating human beings. This is an unusual premise, and I don't think you are alone in finding them disorienting. In the case of the clown, the person behind the mask and the costume is actually human, but his humanity is disguised and cloaked in a kind of distortion. This can be scary, because one wonders what is really behind the false smiles and frowns: the strange actions intended to amuse and entertain.

I'm not a counselor or a psychologist, so I can't really give professional advice, but I just wanted to say that I identify to some degree. I I don't think that your phobia is without some basis in reality. I guess it might be helpful to understand that there is no intention on the part of the clown or the puppeteer to arouse such fears. They are only entertainers in the business of the Performing Arts. Their goal is to entertain, and to receive applause and laughter, like any other performer. So the scenario, while it can be bizarre, is not a hostile one.

 

[David Baxter PhD]

Re: why do i fear clowns etc?

That's pretty much true, stargazer. Research with young children shows that faces which are almost human but distorted in some way are much scarier than faces which don't look human at all.

 

[stargazer]

I'm not surprised. When I was a child, the quasi-human faces and figures were much more frightening than those which didn't bear any human resemblance. They were perceived almost as a violation of something delicate and sacred.

 

[sunset]

Amy, you are not alone. I have always been "afraid" of clowns and mimes... Dont know why, but if I see them, I look or go the other way! Just kind of freaks me out.

 

[shatteredspirit]

I don't want to send anyone into a panic, but I do understand that people are afraid of clowns.? I do clowning and in my experiences I have always been able to make friends with the children who were originally afraid, when I first came in.? I DO NOT approach anyone, child or adult, who is afraid.? I have had people tell me to sneek up on their friend, because they were afraid of clowns.? People think it is funny to scare someone, I DON"T, and I would NEVER approach anyone who was afraid.

I was at a party and one little girl was in her mothers arms crying when she saw me.? I stayed on the opposite side of the room and told her I would not come over by her.? I started doing my party with the songs and magic, when I was face painting she hesitantly came up to me.? I told her how proud I was of her for coming over.? By the end of the party she was sitting on my lap!

I was also at The Variety Club with another clown once, and there was only one child at the meeting.? She screamed when she saw us.? We made sure we didn't go near her, we walked out of our way to avoid being close to her.? When we started explaining clowning and played some songs,? she started to pay attention to us.? I got out a shaggy dog puppet and she got out of her mothers lap and came up to me to pet it.? At the end of the meeting, as we were leaving, she kept yelling, bye clowns, bye clowns!

People have told me they became afraid after watching some movies.? I have also seen some clowns that scare me!? Their makeup is horrible and it is scarey looking when they have a big mouth going from ear to ear.? Professional clowns do not have those large mouths.? I was not aware, before becoming one, that there was a definate difference between clowns looks.? It is usually someone, without training, that slaps on some makeup and puts on a crude looking outfit, and thinks that makes them a clown.? There are classes and professional training available to keep people from looking horrible and scarey.

Stargazer is right, we are regular people under the makeup, and a professional would never scare anyone.
But I do understand it is a true fear, I am afraid of bugs and will run out of a room to avoid them.? I guess we all have some fears we deal with.?

I am a "girly" clown and have had people point me out to their children and say "look at the pretty clown", so we are not all scarey!

? ?

 

[^^Phoenix^^]

I know this is an oooold post, but I was never afraid of clowns until I saw the movie 'IT' (Book by Steven King)
I watched that on tv when I was 7!! urgh... Bad Idea!

 

[stargazer]

I'm reminded of two very different songs, both of which I love, on the theme of clowns: "Send in the Clowns" the Sondheim song, and the song "The Tears of the Clown," which I think was Smokey Robinson and the Miracles? Every time I hear that song it does something to me, and I stop what I'm doing, and listen.