Many children, when they see clowns in the circus, at a matinee or on the street, experience strong fear and anxiety. They begin to cry, their knees buckling and their hands trembling. Often little cowards cuddle up to their mother or even run away. This panic state is called coulrophobia. The term originated in the early 1990s and quickly spread on the Internet.
Despite the fact that the World Health Organization does not classify coulrophobia as a mental illness, this disorder is considered on an equal footing with phobias such as fear of spiders, fear of closed spaces, fear of heights, and so on.
Children's feelings of dread and anxiety at the sight of a brightly colored character in a full wig, with a red nose and giant boots can lead to serious mental disturbance.
Constant stress often turns into the fact that the child will grow up insecure and withdrawn into himself. To find out how to help the baby, first you need to deal with the reasons for the fear of circus performers. Where do the roots of children's fears grow from, learned estet-portal.com.
1. Fear of the clown in children due to the encounter with the unknown
2. Strange clown makeup – source of fear in children
3. Unfortunate experience of being in a circus or at a children's party
4. Children's fairy tales and horror films lead to the fears of clowns
Fear of a clown in children due to an encounter with the unknown
Children's worldview has its own characteristics. So, meeting face to face with something new and previously unknown, the baby feels fear. It arises due to the fact that, without having sufficient knowledge about the world, the child perceives the unknown as a potential threat to his safety.
The baby is especially frightened by a man in a bright suit, with a strange face, a huge mouth and a big red nose, who laughs, sobs, jumps and waving his arms strangely. But abrupt movements and expressive behavior are typical for mentally ill people.
The first appearance of a clown in a child's life turns the baby's familiar world upside down. It goes against the idea of already familiar creatures, which induces a panic state.
A child remembers such a terrible picture and every time he looks at a clown, he gets scared, even if he sees a picture or photo of this circus artist.
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Strange clown makeup – source of fear in children
Another reason to be afraid of clowns is the heavily applied make-up of a circus performer. Under a painted mask with an artificial smile, the kid cannot guess what true emotions the person who is hiding under this mask is experiencing: is the clown really smiling or is he up to something bad?
According to psychologists, children are afraid of clowns because clown mouths, false noses and other features of appearance confuse them, preventing them from recognizing facial features and mood.
Not seeing the true face of a person, the child experiences some discomfort that occurs when meeting with something unfamiliar. But the unknown, as we mentioned above, in children causes strong fear.
Unfortunate experience of being in a circus or at a children's party
Sometimes a child becomes terribly afraid of clowns after an unsuccessful trip to the circus or to a children's party in which animators participated.
For example, a child experienced extreme stress after a circus performer among a crowd of kids chose him and led him straight to the middle of the arena to participate in a certain competition. But when everyone present burst into laughter, the baby felt awkward. This event left behind an unpleasant imprint.
And now, as soon as a child sees a clown, he thinks he will be called back to the arena and mocked.
Children's fairy tales and horror films inspire fears of clowns
If parents read fairy tales to a child, in which such terrible characters as Baba Yaga stealing babies, the terrible Gray Wolf devouring little goats and others appeared, he will surely experience great fear when meeting with a clown, especially if the baby is only 2-3 years old.
But it is precisely at this age that the baby does not distinguish the difference between the fictional world and reality, therefore, it can easily perceive a made-up person dressed in a bright suit for a real creature who supposedly can do something bad.
The fear of clowns also arises in children who once saw a horror movie in the plot of which a bright character was clearly not positive, as he did something bad.
The origins of coulrophobia may come from the film adaptation of Stephen King's The King of Horrors. in 1990. In a movie called "It" featured the clown Pennywise, who stalks and kills children. This motion picture marked the beginning of the epic about killer clowns, in whose hands instead of balloons chainsaws and other tools for murder.
But children's psyche is plastic. If the kid at least once looks at something like that, the feeling of fear will remain in his memory for a long time.
As you can see, the reasons for the fear of clowns in children are different. In any case, coulrophobia must be fought. If the situation is left to chance, the child will remain intimidated for life.
It is quite possible to get rid of this phobia if you watch cartoons and films with your child in which the clown is kind and amuses children.
You can also dress up as this circus character and chat with the baby so that the baby understands that clowns are not bad, but good. And when he understands this, then fear will be replaced by joy. And then the child will visit the circus with great pleasure and communicate with the disguised cheerful uncle.
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