By: Kurt Allemeier
Clowns inspire thoughts of calliope music, tiny cars, big feet and pratfalls in most people, but for others, the circus characters bring a tightness in the chest, labored breathing and a sense of unease.
People who cringe at the sight of Bozo or Ronald McDonald have coulrophobia, or a fear of clowns. Brian Moore, who works occasionally as Doc the Clowns, said he deals with someone who is afraid of him nearly every time he performs.
“I’ve had adults run from me,” aid Mr. Moore, who owns Mr. Wong’s House of Magic, a clown supply store in Davenport. “I don’t believe I’m scary when I go out.”
A phobia, like a fear of clowns, is based on irrational fear, said Dr. Earnest Galbreath, a psychiatrist with the Robert young Center for Community mental Health. That irrational fear can cause avoidance reaction, increased heart rate, sweating, increased breathing and anxiety.
The fear is often caused by some past life experience or can be triggered by a television program or movie.
“Whatever it is has made significant impressions on a person to elicit a fear response,” Dr. Galbreath said. “They realize there is nothing they need to be afraid of, while others may have a very deep seated experience in life.”
Mr. Moore mentions Penny wise, a murderer in clown garb from Stephen King’s “It,” as a possible cultural trigger for coulrophobia.
“If I saw that when I was 7 years old, that would scare me,” he said.
Children can be afraid of clowns because of their distorted faces masked by gaudy makeup, a wig, and a big red nose, Dr. Galbreath said.how a child is introduced to clowns also may cause the fear. They may be frightened by being forced to see the clown or being shoved into the clown’s face.
“A child might be a captive audience,” he said. “the parent can leave.”
“When the child is a captive audience, they tend to withdraw and internalize it,” Dr Galbreath said. “The child may not have that option to leave.”
Mr. Moore let children appraoch him. he stands 6-feet-4, so know he can intimidating to children, even without clown makeup. if he sees a child is frightened, he gets down to their level.
“I try to learn the types of things that will win them over,” he said.
young people tend to grow out of their fear, Dr. Galbreath said. They have to learn the clowns aren’t scary and are instead for their amusement.
“They have to do some living and maturing and learnt tha life isn’t what it always appears to be,” he said.” you can’t force that on a person. It takes time.”
If a phobia is so debilitating it requires treatment, the first step is to find the root of the fear, Dr. Galbreath said. From there, a counselor can talk to the person about their fear and help them face it or consider other ways to treat it that cold include anxiety therapy or medication.
“You have to define what you are dealing with and what is so distrurbing about this particular thing, ” he said. “Knwowing this person is frightened isn’t enough. You have to know why they are frightened.”
Mr. Moor doesn’t know why people are frightened of clowns. He has met several clowns from Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus and know several who work locally.
“They are all nice guys and nothing to be afraid of,” he said. “All the clowns I know are good people and good entertainers.